Mobius Conquest
by MeaningfulPlatypus
Summary: Robotnik wages war against Mobius! Will he succeed? Please R&R. AoSTH,Archie,Adventure mix. Slight crossover with ALIEN too.
1. Prologue: Decleration of war

Hello. This is a story depicting what would happen if Robotnik waged a full-scale war against Mobius. This is a mix of the Archie, Adventure, and AoSTH worlds. The Robotnik in this story is from Sonic Adventure.

Sonic, Robotnik etc. are owned by SEGA. Scratch and Grounder are, I suppose, owned by SEGA too.

"_Another ordinary day…_" he groaned as he slammed his alarm clock, crushing it. He threw it behind him, annoyed by the monotonous contraption. It landed in a pile of broken, crushed clocks, all of which suffered for doing their job: awakening Robotnik.

"Well, time for breakfast," he said as he finished changing into his usual outfit. A black suit with a red top and white gloves were all he needed to wear. He had never bothered with fashion before, and he saw no reason to start now.

"Scratch! Grounder! Report!" Robotnik yelled. In rushed two robots. One was modeled after a rooster, with a beak, a black vest, and even realistic chicken feet. The other robot was a small green tank with drills for arms and a drill for a nose.

"Yes boss?" they replied.

"Scratch," he addressed the rooster robot. "Go print me the newspaper. And Grounder," he addressed the tank robot. "Order the Badniks to make me breakfast. Maybe some waffles or something," he ordered. Robotnik walked into another door in his room.

"He wants me to get him the newspaper! So, that means he likes me best!" Scratch bragged.

"Yeah right! He wants me to make him breakfast," Grounder replied.

"No, he wants you to order the other Badniks to make breakfast," Scratch countered. He walked off to one of the huge computers and started typing something.

"And print," Scratch finished. The huge machine spit out several sheets of gray paper with black writing on it. The rooster robot stapled them together and walked back towards the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Robotnik entered a giant machine. It was cubed and had a large circular window on the front. The inside was very dark, and tubes were peeking inside.

"A.D.A.M! Start wash cycle!" Robotnik ordered. A robotic voice replied "Acknowledged", and lights flickered on. Robotnik put on an oxygen tank and some goggles, and closed his eyes. Suddenly, water quickly saturated the entire room, engulfing Robotnik. A large spiral device emerged from the floor and started rotating rapidly, spinning the water around with it, and Robotnik.

2 minutes later, the cycle stopped for a moment. Then, the robotic voice announced "Rinse cycle initiated," and the spiral device started rotating viciously back and forth, throwing Robotnik all over the place. 4 minutes later, it stopped once more, allowing Robotnik to rest a bit.

"Initiating heat drying," the voice announced. The water started draining and the temperature of the room rose. With the water drained and Robotnik dry, he had now finished what he called a shower.

"What the heck is this?" Robotnik yelled. He had walked into his kitchen to find the whole place a mess, and Grounder covered in pancake mix.

"Well, I wanted to show how much I loved you and how much better I was than Scratch, so I made breakfast myself," Grounder said stupidly. Robotnik slapped him and sat down at the table. He noticed the newspaper and lifted it.

"Well, at least one of these idiots knows how to follow orders," he mumbled to himself. He opened it up and read the first page.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MAY 23, 2005 PG. 1 MOBIUS TIMES 

GIVING YOU THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW SINCE 1925…

"Let's see. Nothing but the weather and some robbery," Robotnik said. Reading down further, he spotted his own name.

DR. IVO ROBOTNIK (AKA EGGMAN) NOT A THREAT ANYMORE? MORE ON PAGE 4

This piqued his interests.

"Who would dare say this about me? Let's just see, shall we?" he chuckled to himself. He flipped to page 4 and found the article.

THE SO-CALLED "EVIL GENIUS" NOT DANGEROUS ANYMORE?

_Dr. Ivo Robotnik. He's one of the most intelligent scientists on Mobius. Unfortunately, he's also evil. Using advanced robotics, he destroys cities and such. In the past, he was cruel and vicious, and also a formidable opponent. He would capture poor, innocent animals and use them to power his Badniks. Two of his most powerful creations once threatened the whole planet. One was the Death Egg, and the other was the terror known as Metal Sonic. _

_  
Recently, Robotnik has gotten soft. He now uses others to do his dirty work, most recently Chaos and Gerald Robotnik's creation, Shadow. Will this once vicious doctor strike back anytime soon, especially after being locked away by his own creation, Metal Sonic? Only when we terra-form other planets!_

Silence filled the room. Scratch and Grounder both stood still and looked at Robotnik, his face blocked from view by the newspaper.

"Master?" Grounder questioned. The sound of a teakettle could be heard.

"Oops. Left the tea on," Grounder said. He started rolling away, but Scratch stopped him.

"Grounder? We didn't put any tea on…" Scratch said. They both slowly looked towards Ivo. He had lifted the newspaper down, and it revealed his fire-red face. Veins could be seen on his baldhead and his glasses started to crack.

"…"

With a loud scream, Robotnik lost himself to blind rage and kicked the table over. Scratch and Grounder flew into the stove and waited it out.

"I think he's finally lost it!" Scratch yelled. Grounder started crying like a wimp, unable to handle it.

An hour had passed since the outburst of anger from Ivo. The kitchen lay in ruins and his bedroom torn to bits.

"Is it safe to come out now?" Grounder nodded. Scratch nodded and opened the stove door. They searched through every room until they found Robotnik looking upon his Egg Emperor in the underground Badnik garage. He had seemed to calm down.

"You know, they're in some ways right. I have gotten soft. Weak, actually. I used to be feared all over the planet. No one dared face me, besides Sonic," he said. He paced around the garage,

"Then, I discovered what the Chaos Emeralds could really do in my hands. I found out that I couldn't use them myself, but that Chaos, the God of Destruction, could absorb them. That was a bad mistake…" he said. His voice was oddly quiet. Suddenly, his voice rose.

"I'll show those fools! I'll gather my army of Badniks! I'll conquer all of you one by one and show no mercy as I roboticise your flesh and blood!" he yelled. Scratch and Grounder smiled. They were happy to have their old creator back. Robotnik started laughing maniacally, and then yelled.

"Hear that Mobius? I shall rule!"

The prologue so far. Next chapter will introduce characters that both I own and belong to some friends of mine.


	2. Chapter 1: Introductions

I own Count Sin. Dante is owned by Storm The Fox. Blaze is owned by Axel Wildfire. Don't know if they go to though.

The Super Egg Carrier was already full of bounty hunters, robots and others the next day. They had been excited about helping Robotnik's plan. It was hard to believe that so many people wanted to conquer Mobius…

"Everyone, I have an important announcement! I have recruited all of you because I believe that with your help, we can conquer Mobius once and for all!" Robotnik yelled from his podium. The audience of scum cheered, happy to be of service.

"I will show you a list of enemies in a moment. For now, converse among yourselves," he said. He started typing something on a laptop he held, possibly the list of targets. As he said, all the ruthless warriors started bragging about their skills or weapons. They had all already been recruited automatically, Robotnik being impatient and all.

"Yes, this one will be good as well." This voice belonged to one of the new recruits. A Tasmanian Devil. He was far from Australian, though, judging by his voice. He was wearing a simple outfit: A black T-shirt and jeans. It seemed to go oddly well with his brown fur. He was searching on a computer for info on some of the oldest Badniks that had been used.

"Getting a head start on the invasion, I presume?" another voice asked. This also belonged to a new soldier. A Red Hedgehog. He seemed younger than all the others, and dressed like a teen. A Green shirt with a burning forest on the front, covered by a green jacket. Green pants went along with it as well as green sneakers with a flame pattern. What also distinguished him from the others was a pair of goggles, which made his eyes bigger.

"You could say that. I want to be sure that the classic Badniks are still active," the Tasmanian replied. He continued searching on the computer. He looked up.

"So, who are you? You look too young to be here, you know," the Tasmanian said. The Red Hedgehog chuckled.

"I get that a lot. Yes, I am only 13, but my knowledge is useful. I'm the chief engineer for your ship, the Anubis," the Hedgehog said. The Tasmanian Devil nodded. He had brought his own ship with him. He named it the Anubis after flying it over Robotnik's former secret base in the desert (SA2B).

"I see. Well, while I'm not comfortable with leaving my ship in the hands of a teenager, I guess it wouldn't hurt," the Devil replied. Suddenly, they were greeted by a strange figure. A creature with a black visor over his eyes and a mask over his mouth. He wore black steel armor and black boots. The only fur visible was on his face. Tan fur, it was.

"So, this is what I'm working with? Not much…" the figure said. His voice was eerie and intimidating, coming through the mask.

"Not much? Listen, Darth Vader! I'm one of the best tacticians and squadron leaders on the planet! What makes you any better?" The Tasmanian asked. The armored figure pulled out a long, golden sword.

"I specialize in close combat, and no one has ever survived me unless I show mercy," the figure said. The Red Hedgehog jumped in.

"Oh yeah? I'm a chief engineer and a mech pilot!" he bragged. The trio glared at each other, until the armored figure held out a hand.

"Good luck, I suppose. What are your names? I am known as Count Sin.," the armored figure asked. The Tasmanian Devil shook his hand.

"My name's Dante," he said. The Red Hedgehog joined in.

"People call me Blaze the Hedgehog," he said cheerfully.

"Listen up, everyone!" the doctor yelled. The whole room silenced and looked up at him.

"Now, I will show you all the enemies you must look out for." A large monitor descended from the ceiling. The screen came on and revealed a blue hedgehog, a two-tailed fox, and a red echidna.

"Sonic. He's the number one menace. If any of you manage to capture him, I will instantly promote you to partner. This is highly unlikely, as I wish to finish him off myself. He has unimaginable speed, so I've found a way to slow him down," explained Robotnik. Sonic's image on the screen magnified to his shoes.

"These shoes are a major factor of his speed. I have tried this before, but somehow he managed to thwart me. That was project Sonic Labyrinth. Anyway, capture those shoes and he's as good as dead." Robotnik explained. The image cut to Knuckles.

"This is the guardian of the Master Emerald on Angel Island. He must be stopped as well. He's very gullible, so try to confuse and trick him if necessary," said Robotnik. The screen then produced an image of a giant green jewel.

"This is the most sought-after treasure on Mobius, the Master Emerald. A great power source for any weapon. When combined with the other 14 emeralds, it is said that a miracle will happen. We want that to be our victory, so capture it." The screen then placed Tails in the spotlight.

"This two-tailed annoyance is also very dangerous. His engineering is almost as talented as mine. He's built a line of Omochao that could annoy us to death if we're not careful. Deactivate his machines," warned Robotnik. Most of the crowd flinched at the thought of Omochao. The monitor panned to Team Dark and Emeral.

"Shadow is the Ultimate Life-form, developed by my great Grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. His speed matches Sonic's, so watch out for him as well. Rouge is a thief, a liar, and a deceiver. She is especially attracted to jewels, so use that to your advantage. E-102 Gamma and Omega are rebellious Badniks. I suggest you try to hack into their programming and turn them back to our side. Emeral is an escaped experiment. He can copy the abilities of every fighter he encounters," Robotnik explained. The screen then showed some forgotten faces: Nack the Bounty Hunter, Mighty the armadillo, and Ray the flying squirrel.

"Nack is some kind weasel or something. He's also a bounty hunter. Hire him to kill Sonic, and afterwards, kill him. Mighty and Ray are old friends of Sonic. They probably want to get back together to stop me like old times. Eliminate them as well." The screen produced an image of Team Chaotix.

"These three pests are friends of Knuckles. They'll do anything for their best buddy, so exterminate them." The monitor shut off and raised back into the ceiling.

"Captains, plan your first attack when ready. Round up all robots you need, and let me know if we conquer anything." Robotnik retired into another room. He would come back out later to see their progress.


	3. Chapter 2: Chemical Plant Massacre

Dante put his plan into action. He slowly made his way through the halls lined with Badniks. He had his list and he checked it off as he walked past.

"Eggrobos. Check. Balkiry. Check. Crabmeat. Check..." with each Badnik he passed, his wishlist grew smaller and smaller. Soon, he had amassed a sizeable invasion force. And now, to find all of his vehicle assets...

"Already heading out, I see," said the familiar voice of Sin. The bear walked towards Dante.

"And where are you attacking first?" Sin asked.

"Angel Island. I've decided to capture the Emerald first and destroy Knuckles. What about you?" Dante asked.

"I'm going to head for Chemical Plant and Oil Ocean. Capturing ourselves oil refineries will improve the Badniks," Sin explained. They nodded and separated.

An hour later

"All Badniks report in. Is everything loaded?" Dante barked.

"Aye Captain Sellis. Everything is loaded par your request. The dropship _Anubis_ is ready for liftoff." The Eggrobo saluted as he met the devil.

"Good." Dante announced. He opened a radio channel and announced his intentions.

"Dr. Robotnik, sir. This is Captain Dante Sellis reporting in. The dropship _Anubis_ is now departing. Our Destination is Angel Island. We will not only capture the emerald and destroy the Echidna, but we will secure the Island itself and establish a base there."

"Excellent. Good plan, Dante. Bring back any prisoners," the doctor said on the other line.

At that, He sat back in his seat and motioned to the two Eggrobos at the controls to take off.

"_Angel Island, Here I come…" _

The Bay of the Eggcarrier opened up. Soaring through the air on a glowing blast of jets, the shuttle-like dropship burned for the outline of a distant slice of earth floating in the sunrise.

Count Sin, along with an army of E-1000's, was on his own Egg Carrier.

"Robotnik, we are currently on our way to our next destination, Chemical Plant Zone. It has long since been abandoned, and G.U.N has made a base there to manufacture the oil. We will capture G.U.N's command posts, eliminate their first army, and continue on to Oil Ocean Zone from there," explained Count Sin into a speaker.

"Good. Make sure no one survives," Robotnik ordered before signing off.

"It's my specialty," Sin said eerily. A few minutes later, they landed in their destination. It had hundreds of factories that helped produce the oil. Suddenly, G.U.N soldiers started shooting at the Egg Carrier. Count Sin and all of his E-1000's departed the ship and started shooting.

"Objectives are clear: Take re control of Chemical Plant Zone, and eliminate G.U.N." repeated Count Sin

"Captain, we're oversea. Setting course for Angel Island. We should be there within the hour." The Eggrobo stood up from his seat.

"Good. I'm going to go take one last look at the vehicles in the bay. Remain on the alert. I don't want to be taken by surprise," Dante said, unfastening his safety restraints.

"Aye sir." Suddenly, the ship tilted back, as if some kind of weight was trying to hold it down.

"What the…" Dante started.

"Captain Sellis, wait. Scanners have picked up a small object hanging onto the ship." The Eggrobo unit sat back down at the radar.

"Wait, what? How can something small be this heavy?" The devil walked over to the radar.

"Seems like it's a person. He appears to be hanging on by..." the Eggrobo started. Dante interrupted.

"A fishing rod…" the devil pressed a button and a monitor turned on. He set it for rear view.

"Oh no…" Dante groaned. Sure enough, Big the Cat had hooked his line onto the Anubis.

"What shall we do?" the Eggrobo asked. Dante thought for a moment.

"Lose him. We can't risk any hitch-hikers."

"Aye sir." The Eggrobo sat back down in his seat. "You may want to buckle up." The pilot Badnik hit a warning siren and pressed the throttle foreword. The ship lurched ahead, accelerating at a considerable rate. 

"Breaking contact with target in three...two..." suddenly, the ship made a violent stop and became vertical. The Badniks that did not buckle up fell onto the ceiling/floor.

"Now what!" Dante yelled. He was becoming extremely annoyed.

"Sir, the ship seems to be weighed down by the target," the Eggrobo replied. Dante growled.

"Crazy fat son of a…activate maximum turbo!" the captain yelled. The Badnik nodded and pressed some buttons. The ship then shut down for a minute, everything turned off. The ship started to sink into the ocean due to the weight. But then, in a powerful burst of speed, the Anubis blasted out and shook their intruder off into the waters below.

"Finally," the Tasmanian devil sighed. He just hoped no damage came to the ship.

"Hey! What kind of pilot are you?" yelled the voice of Blaze. The Red hedgehog walked over, rubbing his head.

"Sorry about the shake we gave you earlier. Had to throw a hanger-on," Dante replied. The G.U.N soldier screamed in agony as Count Sin sliced his body in half with his 

Razor sharp gold sword. At this point in the battle, guns were not needed for him. He issued a message through his communicator to all his robots.

"E-1000's. Prepare to launch Chaos Grenades on my command. Blast each G.U.N command base, but do not hit the factories." ordered Count sin. The Chaos Grenades were a new weapon with Chaos Emerald energy infused. They could destroy just about anything.

"I will be detonating their command base. Do not follow me, as I wish to go alone. I should take only 3 minutes," said Count Sin. He quickly ran inside, where half an army's worth of G.U.N soldiers were waiting for him in front of the command central. . They started shooting, but Count Sin's shield blocked every single bullet. He ran up to them, but he was quickly surrounded by at least 20 soldiers.

"Drop your weapon, or we will shoot." ordered one of them. Count Sin did not follow it, as he pulled out a gold dagger and stabbed him in the chest. Count Sin jumped up to heights unknown, then came back down, pile driving his sword into the wounded soldier's head and body. Before the other soldiers could react, Count Sin spun around, decapitating the other 19 soldiers. He then threw a powerful grenade down on the floor hard, and the whole place exploded in a fiery array of flames, reaching above the clouds in the sky.

"Like I said. My specialty," he repeated.

Above a blanket of clouds, the image of a floating city came into view. High above the white oceanless sands of Angel Island, the ancient ruins hovered. Dante was awestruck.

"Sky Sanctuary..." He thought out loud. In the distance, windmills churned under the force of the winds of stratosphere.

"Actually sir, that's Sky Canyon. We're almost to the main island. Where will we be landing, sir?" The Eggrobo spun his head to the Devil. Dante seemed to be entranced. "Sir?"

"O-oh. Land in the ruins of Launch Base Zone. We'll rebuild it and use it as our base of operations."

"Aye sir." The Eggrobo said. A few minutes later, they were already near Launch Base.

"Balkiries, 094 and 095, prepare to deploy and recon the area. Give us a tactical feed. I want to know if the Launch Base is hot or not," Dante ordered. Two Badniks nodded.

Outside, the bay doors opened. A pair of what could only be described as a mix of birds and fighter jets blasted through the sky on thrusters, breaking into an elegant glide down below the cloudline. They swooped low over the ground, seeking out any targets and feeding video images of the base back to the dropship. Below, the Launch Base Zone sat untouched. It seemed that the Island's guardian hadn't even been back to the old spaceport since the days of the Death Egg. The leading Balkiry turned left. Its wingmate followed in a long, lazy arc, keeping up with the leader. They reported in.

"Base looks all clear." The leader said. "Feel free to la--" In a grinding crunch of metal, the leading Balkiry was torn from the sky.

"Hazard Alert! Hostile Detected!" The second Balkiry punched its afterburners and resumed broadcasting video. It's long metallic beak opened. Within it's mouth, three cylindrical gun barrels poked out. It circled around to scan for its target. Nothing. It switched its scanners to FLIR. The landscape became an odd wash of black and white splotches. But something stood out.

"Target confirmed." The outline of a horned figure stood out from the rest of the landscape. Dragonfire spouted from the Balkiry's beak as it unloaded 20mm rounds from it's mouth. Sparks traced a line along the ground towards the figure, which leapt out of the way with the elegance of a ninja. The figure found no use in cloaking himself anymore. He let the violet color of his skin flush back into his flesh. Espio the Chameleon reached back into his pocket and drew three gleaming black shurikans, preparing to hurl them at the Badnik. The Balkiry swooped around again. It locked its machine gun onto the chameleon. Determination poured through its circuits as it vowed to bring justice to its fallen wingmate.


	4. Chapter 3: Assault on Angel Island

Dante and his crew soon found that they were not alone. In the distance, smoke could be seen rising.

"Hmph. That must be Count Sin. At least we know that if we need reinforcements, they'll be close by." Dante mumbled to himself. He returned his eyes to the large screen holographically projected onto the dropship windscreen. On it, The image of Espio the Chameleon flashed by as the Balkiry did battle below. Dante turned to the Eggrobo piloting the ship.

"Bring the _Anubis_ down, Pilot! Gunnery officer, take us weapons hot in case idiots travel in packs. I don't want anyone rushing this ship. Prepare to deploy the troops!

Shining darts of black metal spun through the air after the Balkiry. Each time one of the razor-sharp Shurikens darted past, the Balkiry banked out of the way. The bird-like robot opened its maw again, unloading hot lead at the upstart, sending the chameleon leaping out of the path of gunfire.  
What began as a low hiss in the sky grew to a deafening roar. Above, the outline of a large shuttle sank through the clouds. It's black features stuck out in the blue sky. It's cannonpod below the cockpit swiveled down, pointing directly at the warrior Espio, and in a flash of blinding blue light, they opened fire.

The Chameleon tried to gain his bearings as he flew through the air. His back felt baked from heat, and chunks of debris had scarred deep scratches into his skin. It stung and burned, but he counted his blessings. The Shot had missed.

"So, Eggman's at it again..." He turned and looked at the massive ship as it slowly descended on one of the Launch Base's many dropship pads. A loud whoosh caught his attention. The whining scream of bullets ricocheting off cement told the tail of the belligerent Balkiry still on the prowl. The Chameleon crouched down on his haunches and leapt into the air, spinning himself into a backflip. Taken by surprise, the Balkiry turned to move out of the way, only to find himself torn asunder under a rush of Shurikens. The left wing was sheared off, and its tailfin was sliced into an unusable mass. The Badnik spiraled through the air before crashing into the ground.

Espio breathed heavily as he saw smoke in the distance. He had to run. To warn the rest of Team Chaotix. "Halt, in the name of the Robotnik Empire!" Riding on a jetpack, the Eggrobo descended from above, its laser rifle already charged and primed to fire. On cue, six more of the robots plopped down, forming a circle around the chameleon. Espio reached for a shuriken, but found only one. One shot. He had to make it count. He raised the black, metal star to throw.

_ZAAARP!_ The blue blast of a laser rifle scorched the white of Espio's gloved hand, and sent glowing blobs of metal splashing through the air. The chameleon grabbed his hand in pain. Seven charged laser rifles inched closer to the warrior. No matter how fast he was, Espio wouldn't last long at point blank.

"That will be quite enough, Squad Leader Alpha. Take our guest into custody and find one of the base's old transports. We wouldn't want to mess up Dr. Robotnik's gift any more, would we?" Dante smiled ferally as he approached the excitement.

The Beetle awoke tied to a pole. The rope was too tight to escape from.

"What the…?" suddenly, he remembered perfectly. Mighty the Armadillo and the others ambushed him.

"Those bastards! I'll get him…" he growled. He managed to get one hand free and turn on his radio.

"Dr. Robotnik, this is Lt. Slash, calling for back-up. I've been captured by the Chaotix," he said.

"Very well. A squad of E-1000's are on their way now," the doctor replied. Slash signed off. He couldn't wait to have payback.

Sailing off into the morning sky, the transport carrying Espio drifted towards the Final Egg. Dante had pre-recorded his message, presenting the warrior as a gift to the good ((more like bad)) Doctor, as well as to bring news that Launch Base had been reactivated and was serving as a Space and Airport, as well as a Badnik Production Facility. Rounding the mountain passes and soaring over the great expanse of desert that was Sandopolis, the transport finally made its final destination. The Madmole pilot requested to land onboard the Eggcarrier, still holding its precious cargo.

"Tactical Officer Blaze, we've established a field repair center in the Launch Base Zone. The factories are up and running, and ready to produce an entire invasion force." Dante walked back into the _Anubis'_ bridge.

"As our next move, I feel we should take the Master Emerald as ours and then deliver it to Robotnik. No doubt, this will attract the attention of our enemies, but the sooner we deal with them, the better."

The Jeep continued to drive at a fast speed as Rouge navigated her way through the jungle. The Guardian followed as fast as he could but had an advantage. He knew every inch of the island like the back of his hand.

"You're gonna have to run faster to catch up with me, cutie!" Rouge yelled back.

"Very funny! Give me back the Emerald!" the echidna screamed.

"Hmm. It's been moved. I think we have someone trying to beat us to the punch," Dante growled. He walked to the exit bay. "Pilot, bring this thing into a hover next to the emerald's position."

"What in the world!" Rouge yelled as she stopped the Jeep. The _Anubis_ hovered closer to her. The bay doors on the right side of the craft slid open, revealing a battle-ready Eggterminator mech. The clunky speaker of the Robotnik-shaped robot crackled to life.

"I'd like to thank you for holding the emerald for me, traitor. The Robotnik Empire is pleased by your gracious donation." Dante smiled in the steamy cockpit of the bulky mech. He locked onto the emerald itself. The targeting pipper rang loudly as he fired the spiked arms. They wrapped around the massive emerald in a brutal embrace. The diamond filament cables snapped back, yanking the emerald free.

"Whoa!" The dropship rocked a little under the weight of the emerald. The Eggrobo struggled a bit with the controls, though it wasn't really that necessary.

"The emerald's aboard! Time to jet!" The bot punched the throttle. The _Anubis_ blasted into the clouds, emerald in tow, leaving Rouge to sit on the slowly descending Angel Island.

"No!" Knuckles yelled. It was too late.

The _Anubis_ hovered over the Final Egg. It slowly descended onto the deck of the Super Egg Carrier, it's back doors opening up. A box splashed with the stenciled grinning face of Robotnik rolled down the back ramp. 

"A little follow up gift, sir. Put it to good use," the chaos-resistant strongbox held the master emerald, the pinnacle of floating island. It was held within the embrace triple-locks, and energy neutralizing alloys.

"I've made special care to ensure that no one's getting into that box, or taking anything out. The codes have been transferred to your main computer. Keep them under wraps." Dante paused for a second.

"We're also relieving one of your boys at Hill Top zone."

"Excellent. Dante, you're impressive," Robotnik admitted. The _Anubis_ sat idle for a moment as the army of Eggrobos loaded into the back. They had also taken on two more Balkiries and a couple of late arrivals. 

"Alright captain. Go through pre-flight checks and prepare to depart," Robotnik ordered. Dante nodded. It seemed promotion to Supreme Commander was not far off.

The smoke cleared from the explosion, and Count Sin was seen, perfectly fine, not a scratch on him. He issued another message to his robots.

"Half of you E-1000's are to come with me. The rest will stand guard and start building our new oil base here." ordered Count Sin. He gestured to the E-1000's to follow him, then he hopped onto a speeder, riding on top of the oil river. The E-1000's followed right beside him. They entered a long tunnel, eventually exiting out into fresh air. The area looked like a giant pool filled with 100 oil.

"Oil Ocean Zone. Truly, this is where Robotnik's robots were fueled. It seems G.U.N sent all of their forces into Chemical just so they could protect this place. E-1000's, start building our new base. I will inform Robotnik of our victory, and I will return to the main Egg Carrier to plan our next attack." explained Count Sin. He pressed a button, and the Egg Carrier he came in landed. He boarded it, and set his next destination for Robotnik's base.

"All generals leading an army, report back here as soon as possible. I have something that will prove useful," said Robotnik through his radio. He shut it off. He looked upon the hundred copies of his creation. A giant station to hold more than 200 soldiers. There was no way they would lose now.


	5. Chapter 4: Rescue of a fellow soldier

The Eggcarrier heaved, lifting into the air. Dante felt his legs fall out from under him.

"Whoa. We're moving. Prepare to depart! Preflight done?"

"Aye sir. We're all ready to go!" The Eggrobo said, priming the throttle.

"Good. Let's move. The emerald will be safe on the egg carrier, and that meddling chameleon will get what he deserves." The _Anubis_ rose into the air again, retracting its landing gear with a loud CLUNK. "Next stop, Hill Top Zone."

"Hill Top? Lava, grass, and clouds as far as you can see,"

Blaze thought about it for a second. "The area is pretty unstable. Mon Capitane, I suggest that we don't land the _Anubis_ on the mountain itself, but instead, hovering above the mountain and sending any teams down with the new heat-armor package - could save any moments of clumsiness our forces suffer." Wispy vapors of cloud broke along the _Anubis_ as it ascended into the mountains. Tectonic readings were growing greater and greater. Heat blooms were spiking all over the place on scanners. Finally, the dropship had reached Hill Top Zone.

"Okay. Par your request Blaze, we won't be landing. Pilot, bring us into a low hover and prepare to deploy the task force." Dante ordered.

"Aye sir. Going into VTOL mode. Preparing to deploy." The _Anubis_ dropped down to a chunk of land overlooking a vast lava flow. The side doors slid open to the forest outside. The Eggrobo task force deployed.

"Lt. Slash. Do you read? Reinforcements have arrived. Lt. Slash?" Dante called through the microphone. "We must be too far out of range. Or maybe...he's in trouble." Dante switched to the external speaker. "Eggrobo teams. Fan out and be careful. Report in anything suspicious! We gotta find Lt. Slash!"

Count Sin walked into the chamber where Robotnik was, typing something on a computer.

"Count Sin, glad you could make It." said Robotnik. He looked up from his computer.

"Count Sin, I have something of use to everyone." said Robotnik. He pressed a button, and a screen came up. It showed a design for something similar to that of the Death Egg, except smaller.

"This is the Death Utopia Unit, a perfect supply and battle base for you commanders. It has a foolproof security system: It's easy for you to navigate, but not for any visitors. Inform the others about this, as I have more of these." ordered Robotnik. Count Sin nodded, and walked through a door, which lead to his Death Utopia Unit. Robotnik held up a communicator.

"Captain Dante, I have good news. I've developed the Death Utopia, a battle station similar to the legendary Death Egg. It's not nearly as big, but it makes a good battle station and supply station. If you wish for one of them, as I have 100's of these, please respond." said Robotnik.

Lt.Slash heard a message coming up on his speaker but he dropped into the lava below. Just as he did this the lava reached ground level and Lt.Slash jumped out into the Hill Top Zone and was straight away spotted by Mighty's gang, at first he surrendered then as Mighty came to bind him with rope again he quickly took out his sword scraping Mighty's face as he backed away. He made a dash for it and saw the Anubis and waved his hands to grab their attention, but he slipped and fell down part of a cliff, grabbing on the side for his life he heard the People of the Hill Top Zone scream in terror, the lava was coming straight towards them, and Lt. Slash...

"There he is! Eggrobo team, we gotta move in to support. Gunnery, Take us weapons hot!" The _Anubis_ turned, flying towards the gang of armadillos. Peppering the sky, the team of Eggrobos began their approach, firing off azure bolts of laser rifle pulses.

The Armadillos ran, some even jumping off the cliff, not realizing of the hot steaming lava coming from there too. Lt. Slash saw the Eggrobos and made a dive to grab one of their legs, but unfortunately with all the cost of such a huge assault Robotnik had had to cut down on some units and the leg snapped straight off. He and the Badnik came shooting down towards the lava but Lt. Slash grabbed onto the Badnik's body and landed on top of it. Then he quickly jumped to flat land for safety. The robot croaked "there can only be one Sonic..."

"What?" spat Lt. Slash.

"Meh. Must be an error!" Then he waved his arms again and the Anubis came hovering down and lent out a rope. He had managed to escape. Too bad the other residents didn't.

"Be careful, guys. This one's a special case," Dante said as some of his Badnik forces helped Lt. Slash into the Dropship bay. "Alright. Once we get aboard, we are to go to the new orbital station that Robotnik has commissioned for our use." Suddenly, the ship shook.

"Sir! One of our engines has been blasted!" an Eggrobo reported. Dante didn't think about what he was doing as he took the laser rifle out of the hands of a nearby Eggrobo.

"Pardon me, I need to use this." he said. He motioned for two other Eggrobos to follow him. "Cover me!" He approached the hole hiding the stowaway. Lt. Slash pushed an Eggrobo who was attending to his burns and made his way to see Dante. He made his way to the corridor when he heard an explosion from deep within the Anubis.

"What in the HELL is this?" The Anubis started to fall...


	6. Chapter 5: Inconveinance on the Hill Top

Lt. Slash is owned by my internet friend, Supa Sonic.

"Well, well. We meet again, traitor," Dante said. The explosion had been from a bomb, and the bomb had been planted by Rouge, who now stood in front of him.

"Me, a traitor? What makes you say that?" Rouge pleaded sweetly.

"Don't give me any of that. You know what you did."

"Whatever. Whoever you are, you'd better give up that emerald. I despise anyone who takes jewels from me!" she yelled.

"Well then. You've just made an enemy," Dante laughed. He smacked her across the face with the rifle and she fell to the floor.

Lt. Slash heard Dante's shout and made for him. As he got near there was another explosion from a chain reaction and a hole was created about 3 meters away from Lt. Slash. He was sucked out and fired towards the lava. Luckily, the Anubis was falling faster than he was and he grabbed a rail hanging from the bottom. He looked down and saw Mighty carried by 10 Flickies coming straight towards him. The beetle froze...

Rouge sweeped him off his feet and pinned him against the floor.

"Buddy, working for Eggman is the biggest mistake you'll ever make!" she yelled, kicking him in the face. Dante drove his knee into her chest, knocking her back. He regained his footing on the ground and brushed his thumb over his nose and smashed his elbow into a glass case. He pulled the lever inside, causing the ship to slow its descent.

"Pilot, I'm activating the Emergency jets. You got enough for about thirty seconds of burn. Make our landing a soft one." He barked. Glowing blue pulses of laser rifle tore through the air at Rouge. Dante was not impressed. "Who the hell do you think you are coming on MY ship?"

"Sir! We've made it. Lt. Slash is repairing the engine." The Piloting Eggrobo said.

The ship started its slow decent and Mighty crashed into it. Lt. Slash got in and as fast as he could yelled

"Don't land the lava is still rising!" but it too late and the ship soon started to touch the lava and Lt. Slash jumped on top of the vessel for protection. Strangely the Anubis wasn't taking as much damage as thought; it was a strong ship and held up. Knowing a lot about quick repairs Lt. Slash dived into the hole where the engine was and started repairing.

"Really? Well, be sure to help him onto the ship when he's done," Dante ordered. He turned back towards the injured batgirl.

"As for you, I'll be sure to personally send your dead body back to Robotnik for instant roboticization!" he yelled.

Lt. Slash was amazed. He fixed the ship and came out and there was no damage at all. He spat in the lava and laughed. Just then his speaker drifted back, unharmed. He picked it up and called for Dante.  
"Ready for take off. By the way I need to talk to you urgently." Lt. Slash ended with a nice friendly " NOW!"

The Eggrobo in the front compartment almost danced at the news.

"Great! Let's get out of here now!" 

Dante turned back to see an empty spot where the traitor had been. She had run.

"Craven little harlot. Sure, nothing can kill you when you run in fear," he mumbled to himself.

"Pilot, let's go. Thank you very much for your repairs, Lt. Slash. Blaze, Pilot, everyone...let's go home. Our job is done here," Dante said.

"Speak for yourself man! I gotta make this area suitable for a Launch pad." Lt. Slash backed away and then said,

"You with me?"

"We can cut our losses for now. If the big man yells, it'll be my fault for not arriving on time. Right now, we have a station to make it to," The devil said, reaching for his pocket. He pulled out a pack of Sandbar Island slims and put one in his mouth.

"_It'll be all my fault indeed."_

Robotnik laughed out of joy as he witnessed the objectives completed for the first day.

-Captured the Master emerald  
-Captured Espio the Chameleon  
-Re-established Launch Base Zone  
-Grounded Angel Island  
-Pulled Lt. Slash out of a hot zone

-Captured Chemical Plant and Oil Ocean Zones

It was all going perfect! And all on the same day too! He estimated it to be about noon now. By this time next week, they could very well have control over the entire planet!


	7. Chapter 6: CHALK UP ANOTHER VICTORY

Lt. Slash paced around the Anubis. He was worried that something was not as it seemed. At this moment his trail of thought was cut off by Mighty crawling through the hole still unfixed.

"Where am I?" the armadillo said. Lt. Slash smiled. He decided to take advantage of the amnesia.

"You are a prisoner of the Robotnik Empire. You surrendered to us, remember?" Lt. Slash lied. Mighty thought for a moment. Dante exhaled in a Smokey sigh as he put his cigarette into a nearby ashtray. He noticed that in his state of amnesia, Mighty was quite open to suggestion. Dante raised an eyebrow.

"You ok there?" Dante asked. Mighty nodded. It was all coming back to him now. But why had he forgotten it before?

Dante wondered to himself what to do next. The Master Emerald was the property of the Robotnik Empire. Espio the Chameleon had been captured, and was soon to be joined by a friend of his, Mighty the Armadillo. What was left? Ah, yes. Team Dark. That would be a fine challenge. He could finally be rid of the traitors for good.

"Sir." the piloting Eggrobo broke his train of thought. "The Death Utopia is coming up. They've cleared us to dock with them."

"Good. Take us in. Tell the good doctor that Lt. Slash has a little gift for him."

"Aye sir."

"Okay, are we ready?"

"Okay, hack's in place. Satellites are ready. We're go for broadcast."

"Okay Coconuts, You're on!" Suddenly, every T.V on Mobius is tuned into channel 01. It shows a large ship with a giant robot holding the Master Emerald. Behind it are Espio the Chameleon and Mighty the Armadillo, marching in front of a Badnik escorting them. Some words appear on screen.

CHALK UP ANOTHER VICTORY TO THE ROBOTNIK EMPIRE.

The camera cuts to Coconuts, who is wearing a clip-on tie and is holding a stack of papers.

"Good Evening ladies and gents, This is your host, Coconuts the monkey Over live streaming satellite here to give you the Eggman Empire's report on the conquest of the planet Mobius. Imperial Staff, Soldiers, and Badniks alike took the time to celebrate a string of victories in the united front to take over Mobius." The camera cuts to a picture of Dante and the Master Emerald.

"Young captain Dante Sellis and his crew successfully captured Launch Base Zone, and procured the legendary and powerful Master Emerald, as well as capturing the Team Chaotix member, Espio the Chameleon." The camera then produces an image of Count Sin and his sword.

"Most Astounding of all included the Benevolent Count Sin's mastery of hand-to-hand combat in Chemical Plant Zone, a victory which netted us several production factories. He later moved on to take over Oil Ocean as well, obtaining much needed fuel reserves for our cause." The camera focuses back on the first picture.

"These initial victories lead to the production of the Death Utopia ship, as well as another victory in which it is rumored that Mighty the Armadillo was captured. With so many victories to speak of, we can only ask Who's Next? Will we shed some light on Team Dark? Deadhead Team Rose? Or even take a speedbump to team Sonic? The possibilities are limitless. You have no chance to win, so you may as well surrender in the name of the Eggman Empire.

This has been Coconuts the Monkey, saying Goodnight, and good news..."

"CUT! That was great! Though your witty puns at the end could use some work," said the Crabmeat Badnik.

"Hey, My humor chip hasn't been upgraded for years. Give me a break," Coconuts complained.

Coconuts and Crabmeat coward before their creator. Robotnik's face turned red, his muscles tightened, and his expression of anger was unimaginable.

"You idiots! Although our victories were great, did you have to announce it to the whole planet!" screamed Robotnik. Suddenly, his expression changed.

"Though, I must say, it sure showed those editorials what for," he said, remembering the newspaper article that started all of this.

"You two, go see if Dante needs anything," the doctor said. The two Badniks nodded and ran off.

After handing over Mighty (who gave a confused yelp as his prison doors closed) Lt.Slash made his way to the Anubis but found it deserted, all the crew were busy doing this and that on the Egg Utopia and so Lt. Slash thought it would cause no harm if he were to go on ahead and plan the next mission. He entered the main room for piloting the aircraft and opened up some special files for planning. Suddenly an access denied sign came up and after a few seconds of puzzling the code was cracked and a strange file came up that Slash didn't understand. He played about and then in a huge booming voice that could be heard through most of the Egg Utopia the Anubis called,

"WARNING, WARNING, EMERGANCY FLIGHT PATH STARTS IN 5…4…3…2…1… LIFT OFF." Before Lt. Slash could escape the Anubis took off setting path towards the lava reef zone where a secret hide out had been made incase anything had gone wrong. Lt. Slash took out his speaker and called to Dante.

"Get me the HELL off this flying death trap, you hear me?"

Dante still continued to smoke his cigarette, when Count Sin's voice came over the radio.

"Commander Dante, can you hear me?" Dante picked up his radio.

"I'm here. What is it?" he asked. Suddenly, he witnessed his ship rise into the air…without him!

"I'll be back in a minute!" Dante yelled. He dropped the radio and picked up a megaphone.

"Lt. Slash! Press the Return key!" he yelled.

Lt. Slash looked for the return key, but couldn't find it. So, in a stupid fashion, he hit all the buttons and the ship tried to fire a bomb. But the safety lever was closed and so the hatch wouldn't open. It was going to explode when Lt. Slash cut a bit off the bomb took out the explosive and chucked it out the ship. As it exploded it set the vessel firing into space and it crash-landed in the Green Hill Zone. Lt. Slash was knocked out and was taken in by an unknown figure.

"This is for Mighty," the figure said.

"What an idiot." Blaze growled. "Bridge crew, check in!"  
"Science!"  
"Nav!"  
"Astronav!"  
"Tactics." said Blaze, happy that everybody had survived.

"Now, how the hell is the ship... Well well, it's in one piece! We could fly this thing back again, and as a matter of fact… Navigation, set course for that miniature Death Egg!"  
"Aye."  
"Don't answer me with aye; answer me with a yes or something like that. Aye is for the Cap'n only."  
"Aye, I mean, yes sir. Course laid in."  
"Maximum Warp - Engage."  
The bridge crew stared at Blaze. "Take a freaking joke, will you? Maximum speed, and let's get going."  
"Umm... Slash has gone missing."  
"WHAT? Science, get a transporter beam lock on Slash's position."  
"Got it."  
"Right, bring him aboard into station 1."  
"Roger Roger."  
"Oh, shut up."  
"We've got him sir."  
"Good. Get medics down there."  
"Yes sir."

Count Sin calmly set the microphone down, then walked over to the control panel. He was currently aboard one of many Death Utopias.

"E-1000's, set our course for the space colony ARK. G.U.N has taken it over, and it will serve as Robotnik's new base. After all, it's only fair he takes control of his grandfather's creation," ordered Count Sin. Slowly, the Utopia floated up towards the sky, causing some wind.

Lt. Slash, who had just recovered from his crash, remembered several things about Lava Reef. His rock hard skull had meant he had barely been knocked out and no cases of Amnesia. He remembered someone taking him in to be looked at in a secret area where there were lots of other low ranking members of Mobius. When no one was looking he took a small space pod from the Anubis and fired himself back to Lava Reef and recovered the small cavern that he had been taken but they had all moved. He pondered for a while then realized they must have moved for safety. He followed occasional footprints to a pool of lava and saw a strange looking rock next to it. Pressing against it he opened a hidden passage. He was greeted by a grand hall, and by Ray the Squirrel. Ray let him in, gave him a bed and some food. The Lieutenant almost felt guilty when he smacked the Squirrel's head with the back of his sword. Almost. He ran back into the hall, carrying Ray on his back, but when the others viewed this they ran at him with knives and hammers. He tried to take out a few to take back with him but they were well trained. He escaped with only a few scrapes and a heavily bleeding leg. He made it back to his pod, though there wasn't enough room for both of them. He looked around where he had originally been found by Ray and sure enough there was a small ship that could hold 5-6 people hidden behind a wall for emergency escapes. As he blasted into space he tried to tie Ray up, but ray awoke and smacked Lt. Slash in the face with his tail. Soon a huge fight had brewed and neither of them were budging an inch.

"Err, head base. Head base, I have a major crisis here requesting back up onto the ship flying towards you, The..." Lt. Slash looked for the name of the ship..."the Super Polly Waggle." shudders I have a Squirrel by the name of Ray here you might be interested in."

Sin continued to fly up towards space. Suddenly, his radio came on.

"Hey, whoever's in control of that Egg Utopia! This is Chief Tactics Officer Blaze of the _Anubis_, requesting permission to land," Blaze cringed as a loud ClANK sounded from the other end of the ship. "And if permission is granted, I request that you slow your ascent velocity..." ClANK "Because the _Anubis_ is falling apart!" Blaze said on the other line. Sin chuckled. The day was not even over and already we were losing a ship.

"Officer Blaze, permission is granted to land. We will slow our velocity," responded Count Sin. He turned around to his robots.

"Slow down our speed so our friend can land," ordered Count Sin. The Utopia suddenly felt like it stopped, but it was just floating slower. Slow enough for the ship to land on it. Some time later, Count Sin walked into the docking bay of his Utopia, followed by some E-1000's, glancing at the _Anubis_ and all it's damage.

"With just his crew, it will take awhile to repair. E-1000's, start work on It." ordered Count Sin. They quickly sped over to the broken-down ship. Count Sin, after searching inside it, finally found Dante and Blaze.

"My... SHIP!" Dante was floored at the shape of the _Anubis_. Armored panels were damaged nearly beyond repair, the engines were failing, and one of the lifeboats was missing. Repairing his ship would take a long time. It would also leave him and his crew stuck aboard the Death Utopia for a while, unable to travel to other zones to conquer and pillage. Still, his ship was there and slowly landing instead of lying dead in the Lava Reef Zone.

"Blaze, thank you for getting the ship back. Next to a crew to man it, it's one of my most valuable assets." Dante said. Blaze nodded, and then spotted Sin next to them.

"I'm glad you could drop in, commanders. It seems like it's been forever since our last meeting on the Super Egg Carrier. Now tell me. What happened to this ship that caused so much damage?" asked Count Sin.

"One of the crew members...didn't input some information correctly and activated one of the older auto pilot protocols. The ship began flying towards the Lava Reef," explained the Devil.

"I understand, though Robotnik might not. All that aside, as long as you're aboard, you can help me with the next assignment," said Count Sin.

"And what would that be?" Dante asked. Sin paused for a moment.

"Conquering Space Colony ARK." The bear said this with great emphasis. It was important, after all. Blaze, being the thinker, brainstormed an attack on the colony.

"Hmm... hmm... hmm…hmm... I'd get another three Death Utopias up there if I were you. That thing is bristling with cannons. There's a blind entry point on the top, no one can see you go in, including the automated cannons," he explained.

"Excellent Blaze. You're a good tactician for a teenager," Sin complimented. Blaze smirked.

"Right. Contact Dr. Robotnik and ask him to send in three more Death Utopia Units," said Count Sin. He pressed a button on a keyboard and ARK came up. Words and numbers appeared.

"Dante and Blaze. While the Death Utopia is a powerful shuttle, it's too slow. The G.U.N machines aboard the ARK will have locked onto us before we even barely exit the atmosphere. I will leave in a smaller plane and attack them myself. Send reinforcements as soon as I land," said Count Sin as he walked off.

"Who does he think he's the boss of? We're all commanders here," Blaze complained.

"He's obviously more experienced in war than most. Besides, it's a perfect strategy," Dante experienced,

"Right. I'll put together three squads." Blaze walked off.

"_Hmm... For one team on an assault, one for a diversion, and a third to sneak on and do some damage should work… nah, forget it. I'll just send in one as a diversion and the other two on assault." _He thought. He walked over to some E-1000s that weren't being used and got their attention.

"Okay, twenty of you freaks, over here now. You guys are on diversion so that Count Sin can get in. Try and stay alive long enough for both assault teams to get in. Arm yourselves with anything that's big, that should create a distraction. Eighty of you, here now, in two groups of forty. You guys are on assault, so take the usual weapons."  
Blaze walked away, saying over his shoulder,

"Stay there for a minute."

Count Sin was already seated in a small plane known as the Egg fighter. It was basically an assault plane version of Robotnik's hover pod he always rides in. Count Sin sent a message to Blaze.

"Remember; do not destroy the space colony. Not only is it a perfect base, but there are some DNA remains of Biolizard I think we can use. As for you and Dante, I'd suggest that you observe this battle from an Earth base. Being onboard one of the Utopias is a big risk for a captain. I would hate to be the only one left," explained Count Sin, before shutting off his communicator. He turned on his fighter and flew through the docking bay and towards the atmosphere.

In spite of the temporary situation regarding his ship, Dante Sellis was in a rather upbeat mood. The bounty hunter Nack the Weasle was now among his ranks, even if he was still down in Lava Reef. Lt. Slash had captured Ray the Flying Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo. The Orbital Station ARK was now under assault and the United States Colonial Marines had taken an interest in their activities and were looking to form an alliance. Tactical Officer Blaze was busy readying the E-1000 series droids to send backup to Count Sin. And finally, to top it off...

"Y-you wanted to see us, sir?" skittering nervously into the room came the likes of Crabmeat. He was followed by Shellcracker, who in turn was followed closely by Coconuts the monkey.

"...You guys took a rather stupid step today. Broadcasting our victories worldwide." Dante didn't even take his eyes off of the glow of thrusters in the distant void of space.

"Ye-yes sir, but wit--" Crabmeat started

"YOU will talk when I instruct you to!" The devil shouted, finally turning to face the small Badnik. The crab stood rigid, fearing the roar in the young commander's voice. "Thanks to your brash actions, The good Doctor has put you on the expendables list. And that's just great. Because I've had you transferred to be my three special underlings. It's nice to know that on my dropship, there will be a few expendables just fit for tough situations." All three robots gulped nearly simultaneously. Dante turned. He had a nearly impassive look as he began pacing the room. He looked the three robots over.

"I will lay down the rules. One, you do what I say, when I say, and YOU SHALL DO IT Exactly as I Say, with no question." Dante switched directions, walking a long, lazy circle around the three Badniks. "TWO. I WILL accept no less that perfect from my troops. If you mess up, you'll wind up like my two Balkiries. Sure, they were lucky enough to have their memory cores salvaged and were placed into new chassis, but accidents can happen, especially to _new, hasty, careless_ soldiers." He emphasized the last three characteristics with a rigid amount of ice. "THREE, I expect that at all times, My men will be ready, willing, and able to do anything that may be thrown at them. Fun time's over, boys. When you're not fighting, you will be integrating new tactical programs, enhancing your AI, and practicing your newfound prowess. By the time I'm done with you, you'll all be brand new bots whether you like it or not. THIS is your chance to prove yourselves worthy again, but you'll be doing it by MY Rules." Dante stopped. He paused a moment to make himself clear. "AM I UNDERSTOOD?"

"YES SIR!" the three shouted, again in unison.

"Good. Now, return to your maintenance bays. I want you shipshape and ready to go by the time my ship is repaired and the ARK is captured." He waved the three away. "DISMISSED!"


	8. Chapter 7: Enter the USCM

Mitch and his group are not owned by me. They are owned by Mitch. Don't know if he comes here, though…   
EARLIER THAT DAY… 

High above Mobius, a lone USCM ship maintains orbit, with a fleet of 5 other battle ships and a command battle cruiser they watch the war going on. The humans, the UEF, have no intention of joining this war, yet as observers they must find out who is truly "Good" or "bad."

Among them is Commander Mitch, the last of an advanced race of super warriors fused with animals. He is the best of the best, and he may be called upon incase something happens. The ships maintain orbit as 5 pelican dropships launch from the hanger of one of the support carriers in the fleet. As they fly over Mobius, high above the cloud cover, they prepare to go below. Shields go up and weapons go online. If any thing attacks, by god they will be ready.

The fleet of pelicans watch the battle on Angel Island from afar.

"Sir, this is insane!" says a soilder

"I know...but we must see who is the true "good guy"", says Mitch.

"Sir, this is Pelican one...seems to be a huge war going on sir," says the pilot. The 3 pelicans unknowingly began to fly somewhat to close to the Egg Carrier.

"Sir, we got a huge ass contact ahead of us," says the pilot as they fly over the Egg Carrier.

Back aboard the command ship, the monitors show the battles Robotnik had been putting up against the Freedom Fighters. Impressed by his tactics the commander begins talking to the captain. "Sir, we don't know who is good or bad...but that Eggman...his tactics may seem out of date but they sure as hell are effective" says the commander. "I see...maybe he is the one we must ally with…but we are still uncertain," says the commander.

Back on the Pelicans the men admire the sheer size of the Egg Carrier. Mitch finds it interesting that someone could make something like this…

"Sir, what do you make of this?" asks the pilot as Mitch looks over the Egg Carrier.

"Eggman's doing a full scale conquest. Impressive...yet I'm still unsure if we should get involved in this whole thing," Mitch says to the Sargent as the men all look at the Egg Carrier.

"st man, that's one big mother fr!' says a soldier. As the 3 pelicans fly over the massive Egg Carrier they fly past.

"Man...I do not want to have to mess with that thing!" says another soldier loading his gun.

"Yeah...I wouldn't want to either." says another soldier. The 3 pelicans make one more pass of the Egg Carrier.

2 pelicans fly over the Death Utopia area, heading back to the low flying carrier in space while the third one sends a message to Eggman.

"Attention Eggman. I am Commander Mitch of the USCM forces. We wish to speak with you on terms of an alliance," he says. A voice responds.

"Hmmm…I'm not too fond of your organization, but I shall see. I'm opening the docking Bay of the carrier right now. Land your ship in, and do not try anything funny. I will not hesitate to obliterate you the instant you fire," warned Robotnik. The docking bay opened up, allowing them entry. They slowly flew in. Ceiling mounted guns aimed at them, but did not fire. After landing, Robotnik met up with them. Mitch got out and met the doctor face to face.

"So, you are the Eggman we have been observing. Tell me, what are your plans for this attack?" Mitch asked. He started walking along with Robotnik.

"It's very simple. By implementing tactics and delivering fear onto the people, I shall conquer Mobius," the doctor said. "Now, tell me. Why have you been observing us?"

"We have been trying to make sense out of you and your opposing armies. We have been pondering which one is good or evil," Mitch explained.

"Well, that depends on your point of view. To the Mobians, I am evil, since I'm defying their laws and performing actions which do not go accordingly with theirs. The same can be viewed in reverse," Robotnik explained. This oddly made sense to Mitch. These views on good and evil were understandable.

"I wish to form an alliance with you. It seems that the Freedom Fighters have enforced their laws onto their people. "Do not leave the city", or, "do not give the location of Knothole away". They say they are fighting for Freedom, yet they do not give that to them. I wish to make them pay," Mitch explained. Robotnik smiled.

"Consider our alliance formed, Commander Mitch." They shook hands and continued onward towards Robotnik's chambers. Behind them, one of the Pelican soldiers, the Sargent, stops abruptly and looks down. Something invisible impaled him through the chest. Everything went black for him. The invisible creature threw him aside and liquefied into a silver material. After about a minute, it reformed into the Sargent it just killed. The imposter resumed what the real Sargent left off at, and continued to follow Mitch and co.


	9. Chapter 8: Attack on the ARK

Onboard the ARK, G.U.N soldiers were busy warming up their weapons, whether it be normal rifles, giant guns on the side of the colony, or even their G.U.N plane fighters.

The supreme commander, the master, of G.U.N stood in the room where most of the battling took place. It was where Gerald Robotnik's warning message appeared after the Chaos Emeralds were in place, all those years ago when Shadow was first released. The G.U.N master, as he was called, was named Bruce Beta Omega. He started G.U.N after noticing a lack of Mobius Military after Chaos attacked Station Square. He had two sons: Walter Beta Omega, and Leonard Alpha Omega. Walter was the younger of the two. He was a fine soldier, but he lost his whole body except his head during an attack on Robotnik. He now has a robotic body. Leonard was the oldest, but his father did not respect him at all.

His thoughts were interrupted when something blasted the window in front of him. A laser. Broken glass flew towards him, but stopped only but a few inches away. They were quickly sucked into space, along with Bruce. He activated a jetpack and flew back into ARK before he ran out of air. A message came up on their screen, and Count Sin appeared.

"Consider that a warning shot," Sin warned.

Count Sin put up his communicator and fired once again at their planes, bringing down 10 more.

"Fools. This suit is electronic and has A.I attached to my mind. I need not even target with the plane." commented Count Sin. He fired more lasers at the weak G.U.N planes.

"Hey, Blaze!"

"That's CTO Blaze while the Cap'n is present, Science."

"Yes sir... The E-Series robots have engaged..."

"Good."

"And the repairs on the _Anubis_ are almost done."

"JUST LIKE THAT?" Blaze sprinted past the Science Officer and beheld the ship. He could have sworn it sparkled. "How did you guys get it done this quickly?"

"The equipment on the Death Utopia is far more advanced than anything you'll have come across, considering that up until recently you were a travelling Tactician," said the Science Officer.

"I'd be careful how you say that."

" gulp Yes, sir."

"HEY CAP'N! THE SHIP IS FINISHED!"

Dante's left ear perked at the sound of those words. He turned to a Madmole manning the command console.

"You! Hold the command center! If Count Sin calls for anything, give him what he wants!" Dante ran out of the control center and shimmied down the ladder into the hangar. There was the _Anubis_, good as new. Its tail flash still displayed the grinning stenciled visage of Robotnik. Each turret was repaired and fitted with new weapons. The dual missile racks to either side of the front cockpit were fully loaded with multiple-launch rockets, ready to rain down onto the Empire's enemies.

"Boys, as soon as the assault on the ARK is done, we have people to go pick up." He turned to head back to the control center, barely able to contain himself. Blaze grinned and climbed up the side of the ship.

"Well, I can see my house from here." He was looking through the window into his quarters onboard the _Anubis_. He continued to climb up to the top and began walking along, looking at the weapons.

"Whoa, AZ-30s! Sweet!"

Walter entered the cockpit of the giant mech robot. It was designed especially for him and his A.I. It was light blue, had a sword, and was more of a robot exoskeleton. He connected all the neccesary tubes and wires to his body, and flew out of the ARK and towards Earth.

"I will make you proud, father. I will destroy the Death Utopia, and Robotnik," Said Walter in a dull, robotic voice.

Count Sin was still obliterating G.U.N fighters when he noticed a giant mech fly out. It brought along 7 G.U.N planes that were light blue. They quickly surrounded Count Sin. The leader of the squad sent a message.

"Enemy fighter, we have you surrounded. Surrender now, and we will only make you our prisoner," said the squad leader.

"Over my dead body. Other people may have surrendered to you, but that is because they are nothing but cowards. I've already taken out almost half of your army by myself, here and in Chemical Plant. You cannot defeat me," responded Count Sin.

"Very well. We have no choice but to destroy you. I never miss a target," bragged the leader.

"Neither do I," said Count Sin menacingly. He set a different frequency for his radio, and sent a message to Dante.

"Dante, send in some Badniks to help fight. I've already taken out half their air force by myself. In fact, you and Blaze may join as well. However, they seemed to have released a giant mech robot. I need Robotnik's Egg Emperor unit to help combat It," said Count Sin, putting back his radio.

At those words, Blaze suddenly couldn't contain himself.

"Egg…Emperor? I call shot gun!" he yelled. He quickly raced to the storage facility of the Death Utopia. He went in as a Hedgehog, and came out operating one of Robotnik's most powerful mechs.

"All right! Let's go PWN their asses!" Blaze yelled.

"Hmm..." Blaze was currently hovering in mid-space surrounded by about three hundred E-Series robots.

"Spread out Badniks. Half of you take the ARK by force, the rest of you, with me!" He slammed on the thrusters and rocketed towards the enemy mech. The lance glowed and he smashed into the opposing mech with it.

"Well, lets see how well you pilot that thing," Blaze said.

Count Sin locked onto six of the elite fighters, but instead of firing lasers, he fired Chaos bombs. Each one of the fighters exploded in a colorful electric fury of shock waves. Now it was time for the leader.

"Impressive, but you can't get a perfect shot all the time," said the elite leader. Suddenly, one of the E-1000's accidentally hit Count Sin's ship with a stun laser.

"Sorry sir," said the E-1000 over the radio. Count Sin cursed under his breath, but stopped when he noticed the elite leader right behind him.

"Say goodbye, villain," said the elite leader, but Count Sin just laughed. Before the elite leader could question, his ship exploded into a colorful electric fury of shock waves, one of them hitting Sin and canceling out the stun effect.

"Unfortunate for you, my cargo storage was full of Chaos bombs," laughed Sin. He sped towards the colony and landed on a platform. As with the battle for Chemical Plant, G.U.N soldiers fell to the might of Count Sin, his sword soaked with blood.

"Too easy," Sin said as he decapitated another soldier.

Bruce started to panic. All of his soldiers were being destroyed. And the mech his son had left in was engaged in combat with another mech.

"All soldiers, back-up our mech soldier!" Bruce ordered. Leo groaned. Their whole army was going to be destroyed because of his father's stupidity.

Dante continued to monitor the battle from within the Death Utopia.

"Eggrobo, how are those upgrades going," he asked. No response.

"Soldier, I'm asking you a question. What's the progress of those weapons?" Dante asked sternly. He turned around to see all of the Eggrobos in the room destroyed, now nothing more than scrap. He also saw…

"Rouge the Bat. Figures someone like you would sneak on," Dante said. Rouge smiled.

"I'm just slippery that way," she said calmly. If Dante didn't know better, he'd say she was trying to seduce him, like she does everyone.

"You're out of luck. The Emerald's not on here."

"I'm not here for the Emerald. I'm here for revenge!" she yelled, her mood drastically changing.

"It's bad enough stealing jewels from a lady, but striking one? You should be ashamed!"

"If you're that mad, then come at me," Dante taunted. He gestured with his hands "come and get it," and Rouge followed, kicking at him with her legs.

"Leo, go down to Mobius and send a squad against Eggman's base. We have to stop him at all…" Bruce stopped talking. He heard the sound of the door opening. Turning around, he developed a look of terror.

Count Sin had entered the room.

"So, we meet at last. You must be the sole leader of G.U.N. By killing you, the war will be that much easier," Sin said. Bruce drew out an electrically charged double-bladed spear, while Sin revealed his gold sword. Three battles were about to take place: Blaze VS Walter, Dante VS Rouge, and Sin VS Bruce.


	10. Chapter 9: Duels of the Fates

Count Sin and the G.U.N master Bruce clashed their weapons together, creating sparks that flew everywhere.

"So, you are skilled in martial arts, I see," Sin said. The two continued to combat, blocking and countering blows.

"Take this!" Blaze yelled as he unloaded a barrage of missiles at the blue mech. It managed to block them all, but gave Blaze an opening as he swung his sword. The mech blocked it with it's own sword, but Blaze knew what he was doing.

"I saved a missile!" he yelled as he fired another one. It blasted the blue mech all the way into an asteroid field.

"Hiding are we?" Blaze questioned, following the mech.

Meanwhile, Dante and Rouge were throwing kicks and punches like there was no tomorrow. Dante had more power with his fists, and Rouge had more of an advantage with her feet. They seemed to be evenly matched.

"Take this!" Rouge yelled. Suddenly, Dante was blasted back by black energy.

"The Black Wave. Figures you'd use dirty tricks in a fight," Dante growled. He took out a metal ball and threw it at her.

"Same with you!" she yelled, kicking the ball away. Dante quickly appeared in front of her and kneed her in the gut. He looked down at her as he held her stomach.

"You thought that was a bomb, didn't you? Stupid. Your breasts must be bigger than your brain!" Dante joked, kicking Rouge a few feet away.

"This has gone on long enough," Sin said. He plunged his sword into the window, causing it to break. Leo held on to the nearest rail, while Sin and Bruce flew out into space. They both activated jetpacks, however, and flew back towards the colony, still fighting along the way.

"I will last longer out here. My suit gives me an unlimited supply of oxygen," Sin explained. Landing on one of the platforms, they did not discontinue the duel. In fact, it intensified. All around them, Badniks and G.U.N robots shot lasers and bullets. Bruce was no longer on the offensive. He had the same reflexes as Sin, but his spear was unable to cut through his armor.

Rouge now hung over the lone platform in front of the core of the Death Utopia. Below her was a bottomless pit. Above her, Dante was crushing her fingers with his feet.

"In a few minutes, my Badniks will activate the charging sequence. When that happens, this whole room will be filled with electricity. So, whether you survive the fall or not, you won't escape alive," he said, before shooting her hand with his rifle. She screamed as she fell into the pit below. Dante laughed and quickly ran out of the room.

"Come out, come out, where ever you are…" Blaze taunted the blue mech. The asteroid field was a perfect hiding place, but he would find him eventually.

"Die!" yelled the voice of the opposing mech. It collided its sword with Blaze's.

"Oh. It seems someone's mad," Blaze said sarcastically.

"You will pay!" the opponent screamed.

"Sorry, but those were just your last words," Blaze said. He quickly broke the lockhold, flew behind the blue mech and impaled its head with the Egg Emperor's sword.

"…" The pilot of the blue mech could not say a word. Blaze then pulled the sword out violently and sliced the mech's torso in half. He watched as the blue mech exploded, destroying some nearby asteroids.

"Take that!" Blaze yelled. He was overjoyed with his victory. Robotnik would have to give him a promotion now!

Bruce was in shock. His whole body turned pale. He had just watched the mech his son was in. The Egg Emperor had destroyed it.

"No…no!" he yelled. Sin took advantage of the opening and sliced his arm off. Bruce screamed in pain and fell onto the platform, clutching the stub where his arm used to be.

"Victory is now mine," Sin said, raising his sword into the air. Suddenly, some kind of light lifted Bruce into the air and pulled him onto a G.U.N ship. It flew off towards Mobius, leaving a streak of smoke. Sin turned on his radio.

"Good job Blaze. Maybe you'll get a doggy treat for your victory," Sin joked. He made his way to the core the Eclipse canon, where Shadow had fought Biolizard. He saw some kind of power source. It glowed more brightly than anything he'd ever seen. Upon switching his visor to X-ray he saw what it was…

"Holy…Blaze and Dante! Avoid striking the colony directly! This thing's being powered by a Super Emerald!"

"You're joking!" Blaze flipped on an open frequency. "All forces, do not fire on the ARK!"

"Sorry sir, one of our missiles has just been launched!"

"WHAT? Detonate it immediately!"

"Sir, the remote detonation is not responding!" Blaze growled and lit the venires, with full afterburners.

"_If it can go wrong, it will…"_ 100 meters behind... 70... 50... 20... beside... in front...

Blaze used the lance wave to slice the missile into pieces.

"Alright, who fired that missile?" Blaze asked.

"E-series number..." the Eggrobo trailed off into a digit string.

"Uh-huh. Disassemble him and do a Beta MKII conversion."

"Yes sir..."

"Time to end this," Sin said to himself. He hacked into the canon's computer and aimed at the heart of the battle outside the ARK. The colony shook as the canon fired a light blue beam at the spot. A vortex opened, and G.U.N fighters and Badniks were sucked up quickly. Sin fired another blast and canceled out the vortex. All of the G.U.N soldiers had disappeared and a few Badniks remained.

"Perfect. Dante, ARK has been successfully captured. Report to Robotnik about our success," Sin said.

He slowed the course of the Death Utopia, opening all of the bay doors to let in the troops. Today was a grand day. The Empire now had dominion over the very heavens, as well as the Floating Island below. Even with the Guardian still running around, what was he to do? Sonic, oddly enough, hadn't even shown his face, and there was no word from Team Rose. He even killed Rouge the Bat. Dante smiled Ferally. It was a grand day indeed. The day that no one dared stand against the Robotnik Empire.


	11. Chapter 10: A job unfinished

Count Sin activated the ARK's canon again, this time aiming at Emerald Hill Zone on Mobius.

"The G.U.N base down there won't stand a chance," Count Sin said. He scanned the area once more and detected someone. Someone he had been searching for…

"So, he does exist. And down there, no less. I think it's time I introduce myself to him," he said. He set the canon's timer for an hour. When 60 minutes were up, Emerald Hill zone would cease to exist. In the mean time, Sin would confront someone he had never even met, but knew he was related to.

Dante flew over Chemical Plant Zone in the Anubis. He was especially angry. Somehow, Rouge had survived and made her way to this Zone. He couldn't let all of Sin's hard work go to waste.

"Sir, we've detected the spy," the Eggrobo reported.

"Good. We have ourselves a Rouge," Dante said. He climbed onto the roof of the Anubis, took out his rifle and followed Rouge, who was running towards one of the factories.

"Sayonara, bitch!" Dante yelled as he pulled the trigger. He saw the body fall to the ground.

"Badniks! Go get that body and freeze it," Dante ordered. An Eggrobo nodded and flew down to the Zone.

"Finally," Dante sighed. "_That leaves only one more..._" he thought. The shuttle, now landed, hissed to life and began shedding its front armor. Free from the embrace of the steel flight pack, the Eggmech freed itself from the shuttle. Standing above the Eggrobos below hauling away Rouge's body, Dante prepared for his search.

"This is Commander Sellis. I need a recon team on the double. I'm calling out my special three units to help me on this mission. Have them out here post-haste!"

"Aye sir, sending them now."

Great. Just what he had been dreading. Active duty. Sliding along at a surprising speed, Crabmeat walked with clawguns armed. With an advanced and defective E-series unit on the loose, the small crab-like robot didn't know what to expect. He had been briefed on the technical stats of the machine. Two Vulcan guns, a flame-thrower, and brute strength. Meaning that any encounter would mean having to run.  
Behind, the massive form of the Eggmech stomped. Stronger and more versatile than it's Predecessor, the Eggterminator, it also boasted more weapons. Or at least this custom job did. It's right arm ended with a lead-spewing Gattling gun, and its left housed a dual missile launcher with a second and third pair of reserve shots. The mech's presence was a little reassuring, but still, it was standing behind.

"Coconuts unit 085, Have you sighted the enemy yet?" Commander Sellis' condescending voice broke through the static.

"Not yet, Commander Dante, sir." The monkey shakily replied.

"Well, keep looking. That e-102 unit must be around here somewhere." 

"Aye si--" The ape stopped. "Waitaminute. Yes. Yes. Visual contact at 900 meters. He's at the end of the main road."

"Good work, Coconuts. Remain here. I'll deal with this one."

Robotnik, riding his Hover pod, finally reached his destination: Volcano island. It has long since been abandoned. Robotnik remembered well. It was one of his more deadly assaults. Sonic foiled it by using Robotnik's machinery as pinball barriers. Sonic has surely outgrown the childish tactics of old.

"Now that volcano island is back within my grasps, I'm one step closer to conquering the world! Next destination: Flicky island!" Robotnik laughed.

A single rocket ripped through the night, flying in a loud, hissing shriek. E-102 triggered his jetpack, but did so too early. The missile rose up to meet him, slamming hard into his armor. Sparks and shards of armor flew as the lethal ordinance struck him square in the side. The explosion was so tremendous it punched through one side of his metallic body and out the other side. He toppled smoking to the ground.

"Well, that was anti-climactic. Tag him for salvage, you grunts. I want him in the best condition possible when we take him back for reprogramming," Dante ordered.

"Alright. I'd say our mission here is done. Let's head to...oh, I dunno…. Casino Night? Anyone want to spend a weekend or so gambling?" Dante joked.

Count Sin arrived on Emerald Hill Zone. Again, the G.U.N soldiers stood no chance. Even an improved version of the Hotshot hardly was a challenge.

"Weaklings. Where's a challenge when you need one?" Sin laughed.

"Right here!" the voice belonged to a bear, one just like himself. This bear wore a red vest and silver shoes. He had the same fur color as Sin. Suddenly, his radio crackled.

"This is Commander Mitch! We are under attack in Green Hill zone! We need Back-up…" Sin shut it off. He gestured to the Badniks that he brought with him.

"Go help that commander in Green Hill Zone. I have business here," Sin ordered. The Badniks nodded and left.

"You must be Ted. I know much about you. You do not seem to be on any side of this war, do you?" asked Count Sin.

"No, but I know for sure I'm against you. How do you know anything about me anyway?" asked Ted.

"Your profile isn't what I'd call low. Now, let's see if you have what it takes to be worthy of the title archenemy. Draw your weapon," said Count Sin, slowly pulling out his gold sword. Ted only drew out what looked like a staff.

"I wish to use this. This was my grandfather's staff of wisdom. I can summon it's powers to defeat you," Ted warned.

"Very well, but it shall fall to my blade, as did your grandfather," said Count Sin. He charged at Ted, and Ted charged at him. Ted attacked too early, and missed. Count Sin turned and sliced the bear's staff in half. The energy from the staff blasted Ted backwards and knocked him out. Sin withdrew his sword.

"I knew it. You aren't ready. What a shame," Sin said to himself. He pressed a button and disappeared. He had teleported back to ARK.

Robotnik sat at the controls of his volcano, wondering what would happen next. He was answered, as his radio came on.

"Yes, what is it?" asked Robotnik.

Sir, you're not gonna believe this, but... Sonic the Hedgehog has just been detected onboard the Super Egg Carrier!" said the E-1000 unit at the other end. Robotnik's face grew red, and he screamed.

"What! How could you fools let him onboard! And I thought Mitch had him trapped with the others at Knothole! Ahhh! This doesn't make any sense! Evacuate all robots on the Super Egg Carrier, and transport them to Project D.E 4, now!" ordered Robotnik.

"Yes sir," responded the robot at the other end. Robotnik then set frequencies to all commanders.

"Are you there? Listen, Sonic has either used Chaos Control or made a clone of himself, but whatever he did, he's been detected on the Super Egg Carrier!" yelled Robotnik. He had never been this angry before.

Blaze's ear perked.

"_Hmm. How did Sonic get onboard the Super Egg Carrier... and damn... I still owe him big._ _Can't think about that now. I'm serving Eggman and I'm having a blast doing it..." _Blaze thought to himself.

"Umm... Cap'n? Seeing as there's nothin' really happening right now, i'm going to my quarters." Blaze stalked off.

Mitch looked all around Knothole. Destruction and chaos. Though none of the core Freedom Fighters had been there, he had gotten the message through. He switched his radio to on.

"Dante, this is Mitch. I've successfully killed everyone who was in Knothole. I'll return to the Super Egg Carrier soon," he reported, shutting off his radio. He gestured for his soldiers to follow him, and they did.

The _Anubis_ hovered closer and closer to the deck of the Eggcarrier.

"There she is, boys. Somewhere on there is the biggest thorn in our side." Dante peered out the view port as the flying aircraft carrier came into view. "We've been building up to this moment since day one. Sonic the Hedgehog must be destroyed." Dante said.

"Yes. We'll need all our resources for this one. He's fast. Faster then Shadow and twice as dangerous. He can be reckless, but he makes up for it with sheer determination." Suddenly, a scream was heard over the radio.

"Commanders! This is E-……………We need Back-………………Unknown Life-fo…………………….Too strong!" Immediately after the message, an explosion was seen on the Super Egg Carrier. Dante didn't like it. He thought it was Sonic at first, but then realized that the Eggrobo had started to say Unknown Life-form. He wondered if Robotnik was safe…

"Sin, Dante, Blaze! Meet me on Volcano Island immediately! Bring as many E-1000s as you need!" Robotnik yelled through the radio. He had detected the life forms as well. Whatever they were, they were dangerous. Half the ship had lost power already. He did not want all of their accomplishments to go to waste. He would make sure of it…


	12. Chapter 11: Hot Shelter

Count Sin, Dante, Blaze, Lt. Slash and Mitch stood before Dr. Robotnik. They were currently on Volcano Island, awaiting the good doctor's orders.

"Commanders, I'm glad you could make it. Are your ships still intact?" he asked them. All five nodded.

"Good. I have a technical read-out of the Super Egg Carrier." The doc produced a holographic image of their once home base. They could see little blobs of color representing the unknown life forms.

"Now, to start, you'll have to go through Hot Shelter. Try to knock them into the machinery incase you want a short fight," he said. A section of the hologram was highlighted, showing the Hot Shelter.

"Afterwards, you'll have to strike the heart of the hive, which will be in the Abandoned Sector. Burn them to the ground or freeze them, whatever will kill these creatures." The very end of the Egg Carrier was highlighted, but then the highlight went to the top of the Super Egg Carrier.

"When that's done, exterminate anymore that are left on the Sky Deck. Got it?" Robotnik asked. Again, the commanders nodded.

"Excellent."

The Anubis floated in the air some good distance away from the Super Egg Carrier. The sky became cloudy, and a thunder storm was heading their way.

Inside, an argument was brewing between Dante and Blaze.

"Dante, are you really willing to risk any chance of escape by using a cramped ship?" Blaze questioned.

"Yes. You know why I won't park the Anubis right next to the ship? Because I don't want any of those aliens infecting MY ship!" Dante yelled.

"You seem to care more about this ship than you do our lives!" Blaze yelled again. Sin stepped in between them.

"Shut up. There is a way to compromise," he said. Dante and Blaze stared at him. He always seemed to have a neutral solution.

"…We'll go with Dante's plan." Blaze's jaw dropped, while Dante smirked.

The lobby of the Super Egg Carrier was completely empty, save for some destroyed Badniks. Many of the electrical devices were broken. Some parts of the floor looked as if it were burned.

"Must be mating season for them," Blaze concluded. He and the other four commanders walked through the abandoned sector. Nothing remained but the remains. Sin kneeled down and examined the burnt floor with his finger.

"Just as I thought. Acid. But what kind of alien would bring acid onto here?" he asked himself. Mitch continued to look around. Many of the computers had holes in the monitors, yet no gun bullet was found. Turning around, he saw Count Sin…and something sneaking up behind him.

"Sin, look out!" Mitch yelled. He fired his gun at the creature. It hit it's head. Sin quickly turned, but before he made a full rotation, the creature slashed at him.

"Gahh!" he yelled as he felt pain in his back. Sparks flew from his suit, landing on the creature. It shook them off and ran towards Blaze.

"Holy mother of…take this!" he exclaimed. He revealed his twin swords and stabbed one into the creature's stomach. Pulling it out, the creature seemed unaffected. Blaze looked at his blade, which was now sizzling.

"What the hell? Dude, this thing has acid for blood!" Blaze yelled. Lt. Slash and Mitch fired their rifles at the alien creature. Acid blood flew every which way, falling onto the floor. The alien stumbled over to Sin, who took his sword out.

"Die," he said, impaling the creature in the head. He pulled it out and watched as the alien fell to the floor, the contents of its head pouring out.

"Son of a bitch. What the hell was that?" Blaze asked.

"Not sure. At least now we know what to kill," Lt. Slash replied.

Wheels were churning and gears were turning in the Hot Shelter. Steam would occasionally shoot out of the pipes. They had no time to admire this, though, as they were engaged in combat with more of the Aliens. Sin and Blaze were impaling them with their blades, Lt. Slash and Mitch were gunning them down, and Dante was kicking them off into the endless abyss below.

"How many of these things are there?" Mitch asked.

"The whole Carrier's infected," Dante reminded.

"That's just great. We'll be overrun at this rate," Lt. Slash complained.

"Stop your whining. If you can't handle it, then just return to…" Sin started. Suddenly, an Alien flew into him and they both fell off of the pathway.

"Sin!" Dante yelled. The bear and Alien landed on a lower platform that traveled through the air. Sin swung his sword at it, but the creature dodged. It attacked him with it's tail, but Sin dodged that as well. The two continued to exchange attacks until the platform tipped over. Count Sin held onto the railing, while the Alien fell into the abyss below them. The platform returned to it's original position and Sin climbed back onto it. Looking forward, he spotted Dante with a remote control, smiling.

"Thanks," Sin yelled back.

"Sir! Sonic the Hedgehog is here!" the Badnik yelled over the radio. Robotnik almost screamed his lungs out.

"What! Get him!" He couldn't believe his archenemy was trying to get to him like this. Surely he would have brought some of his friends…


	13. Chapter 12: Abandoned Shelter

They stopped at the doorway of the Abandoned Sector. Looking through, they saw only darkness.

"So…who wants to go first?" Blaze asked. No one stepped forward for a few minutes.

"Blaze, you and Mitch stay out here and try to get the lights on. Me, Dante and Slash shall go in and find the emergency power switch. If we don't come out for some reason…continue without us," Sin explained. They nodded in agreement. The Tasmanian and Beetle followed Sin into the darkness.

"Keep quiet. If I'm correct, then their vision should be purely based on sound," Sin said. Dante lost sight of him. Though they were right behind him, Sin's suit blended him into the black of the room.

Dante and Slash soon could not feel Sin's presence.

"Dude, where'd he go?" Slash whispered.

"We must have lost him," Dante replied. He suddenly heard a hiss come from behind.

"There!" he yelled. Slash fired a shot and hit. They heard the beast collapse onto the floor, dead.

Count Sin heard someone yell "There!" and then the echo of a gunshot.

"Well, they're doing well so far," he said to himself. The sound of a growl then touched his ears. He turned around and looked. Nothing. He continued onward, when suddenly…

Pain shot through his entire body. Something impaled him through the stomach. As the object withdrew from his body, he dropped down to his knees, his hands over his wound. He quickly retaliated, however, and sliced the attacker with his sword. His triumph was short, though, as a claw tore through the back of his suit. More sparks flew, temporarily lighting the area. The beasts continued to claw and stab him. After the attack, Sin barely had any life in him left. He fell onto the floor, weakened. All that he could see was his life before his eyes…

_He was a small child back then. They were in some underwater city. Not Atlantis, but it felt like it. His father was talking to an old man about something. He was quite bored. It would pay off, though. In a little bit, he would receive a name. It was customary to receive your name 5 years after birth. Now his father wouldn't have to always call him son._

_Suddenly, a bright red light caught his attention. It fluttered about, which intrigued him. He ran after it, laughing. He enjoyed playing chasing games. _

_The light finally brought him to a very big gate. It had a giant star symbol on it that glowed red. The gate opened, granting him access to whatever lay ahead. Curious as always, he walked through. For about 2 miles, there was nothing but hallway he walked. Then he came to a wooden door. Touching the doorknob, he felt a sharp burning pain run through his hand. He quickly let go and blew air onto his hand. It cooled after a minute, and so did the doorknob. Opening it, he saw a truly frightening sight. Hell. At least that's what it looked like. A single path of formed rock resided over a pool of magma. He turned around to go back, but something stopped him._

"_Come…" the voice said. He continued along the path through what looked like Hell. He stopped in front of an altar. A symbol, the same as on the gate, was carved into the altar. He set his hand onto it and the burning pain ran through him once more. This time, though, it did not stop. The pain worsened gradually, and he started to cry uncontrollably._

_Out of the shadows appeared a man in a black cloak. He revealed his left hand, which was skeletal. He placed his hand on the child's forehead and started chanting._

"_Venite in facinum, O spiritus tenebrarum. Venite in facinum, O spiritus tenebrarum. Magne Asterothe, te iubeo. Implete hunc lapidem, implete eum viribus Sulfuratis vestris. Consumite eum iris vestris, istas vires adsumem!_

_Iubeo te!" he yelled. Unimaginable pain dwelled in the child, until finally, it stopped._

"_You have been chosen…" the man said. A bright light flashed, and he returned to his father's side. They were now in front of an old lady._

"_So, this is the child you wish to name?" she asked. His father nodded. She placed her hand on his forehead…and then screamed. Her flesh nearly burned off her hand. She held it and glared at the child._

"…_This child is evil! Sin! That is his name! Sin!" she screamed before running away. The child now known as Sin started crying. He knew it had something to do with that place…_

"No…NO!" Sin yelled as he flew into the air. He landed, his blade driving into the alien's head. He swirled around and decapitated the remaining beasts heads. Acid flew onto his suit, burning some of it off. Half of his visor was now gone, revealing his red, bloodshot eyes. Tan skin could be seen in some spots of his body.

"Got it!" yelled the familiar voice of Blaze. Suddenly, the whole Abandoned Sector was lit up.

"Whew, that was…Sin!" Dante yelled as he witnessed the Count's mashed-up body. He and Slash quickly ran over and helped him up. Blaze and Mitch arrived there as well, with first aid and everything.

"Man, they kicked your ass into next week!" Blaze exclaimed.

"I'm fine, what about you?" Sin replied sarcastically to Blaze's comment.

"Sin, what happened?" Mitch asked. Count Sin thought for a moment.

"Nothing. I was caught off guard," he said. All five sat on the sat on the floor.

Robotnik heard footsteps against the metal floor in his room. Turning around, he saw…

"Sonic! Well, this is a surprise! Just how are you in all these different places at once, huh?" Robotnik asked the hedgehog. Sonic smiled and then melted onto the floor into silver liquid.

"What the…" Robotnik started. The liquid rose up and formed into the shape of…

"Oh my god….no, no, no!" he screamed. The attacker showed no mercy. 2 seconds later, red blood splattered onto the wall, and Robotnik's arms flailed about in the chair.

"_IVO ROBOTNIK; CREATOR ---- TERMINATED"_


	14. Chapter 13: The Alien bitch

The five commanders walked across the top of the Super Egg Carrier, Count Sin limping behind. His bloodshot eye was still visible. Dante looked at him.

"What the hell happened to your body? I mean, there has to be something your suit's doing beside making you frightening," Dante asked. Sin sighed.

"The only thing you need to know is that it keeps me alive," Sin explained.

"Total Darth Vader," Blaze mumbled under his breath, looking the other direction. They finally reached their destination; the bridge where Chaos 6 and Sonic fought.

"Very well. Now, we have to find the source of these Aliens," Lt. Slash said.

"But how?" Mitch asked.

"Well, it's simple. We just brainstorm until we come up with something," Dante said. He stood in front of Blaze.

"Blaze, pretend I'm an Alien," he said. Blaze pulled out a gun and aimed at Dante.

"Not that literal. Now, you have three guesses as to where me and my friends are coming from." Blaze thought for a moment.

"Um…A spaceship?" he asked. Dante shook his head.

"Nope. These guys are stupid. They can't build anything except suspense," Dante said. Blaze continued to think, and came up with another answer.

"I know! Another dimension!" Once again, Dante shook his head.

"Too farfetched. Ok, one more guess," Dante said. Blaze was in thought again, until he looked behind Dante in terror, still pretending he's an Alien.

"…Yo mama," Blaze said. Dante fell over.

"Are you even TRYING anymore?" he asked. Blaze continued to stare.

"Seriously. Yo mama."

"We have no time for games, Blaze. Now what's your FINAL ANSWER!" Dante yelled, aggravated.

"YO MAMA!" Blaze yelled once more. He grabbed Dante and pushed him to the side. Suddenly, a giant creature rushed past them all. It stopped in its tracks and turned around, revealing it's face. It looked just like the Alien creature they have been fighting. Only, this one was huge! It had what looked like a giant spiky tail fin on it's hand.

"Holy hell. It's the queen," Dante concluded. The Queen hissed and charged at them again. Sin rolled out of the way and drew his sword. Meanwhile, Mitch and Lt. Slash opened fire onto the giant Queen. The bullets didn't seem to have any effect. Dante withdrew a flame thrower and aimed at the oversized Alien.

"Here's where you die!" he yelled. He pulled the trigger and watch as the flames blew onto the queen. After letting go of the trigger, the flames disappeared, and the Queen was revealed to be unharmed.

"What the…" Dante started. Blaze interrupted.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. There's this one part of the Super Egg Carrier that houses a giant pool of Super Water. Whatever fall in is immune to fire," he explained. Dante slapped his forehead.

"What…the…hell…is the ship doing with a FULL VAT OF…" but he was cut short when the Queen knocked him over with her tail. Sin ran at her with full speed, ignoring the pain in his leg. He then impaled its jaw with his sword, acid blood spewing about.

"Now!" Sin yelled. The other four commanders opened fire onto the Alien bitch, as they called it. The queen had enough and sunk her teeth into Sin's arm. The bear grimaced at the pain.

"You just made a big mistake…" he said. Suddenly, smoke emerged from the Queen's mouth. She tried to let go, but Sin had a hold of her tongue.

"Die!" he yelled. He pulled her tongue out of her mouth and sliced it off with his sword. He then shot a blast of fire through her head. The queen collapsed to the floor, dead. The high winds eventually blew her corpse off the Super Egg Carrier and into the waters below.

"Commanders. Excellent work! Now, look up into the sky!" Robotnik yelled through the radio. They looked up, seeing nothing at all.

"What? I don't see anything," Slash said.

"Yeah. Just the moon out too early," Mitch said. Dante's eyes slowly widened.

"My God. That isn't the moon. That's the…" Indeed, the moon they saw was the Death Egg of the past. The face of Dr. Robotnik was carved into the front, where a tyrannical Eclipse Cannon clone was placed.

"The Death Egg? He never mentioned its repair!" Blaze yelled.

"Doesn't matter," Dante said. Blaze looked at him.

"That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard you…The Death Star, the ultimate weapon ever built, doesn't matter!" Blaze yelled. The other four commanders gave him a weird look.

"What?" the young mech pilot asked.

"It's Death Egg," Mitch corrected.

"What'd I say?"

"Death Star."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Blaze, we all heard you, loud and clear."

"Shut up! There is no way I said Death Star!"

"Everyone, shut up!" Dante yelled. He watched the Anubis fly above them, lowering a rope.

"Let's go back to Volcano Island. We need to ask Robotnik about the Death Egg. Not Death Star," Dante explained, smirking at Blaze, who growled.


	15. Chapter 14: A new leader

Dr. Robotnik's volcano base was eerily quiet. Not a sound could be heard, save for the Badniks handling the toxic waste in the caves.

Count Sin, beaten up and reasonably weak, looked around the halls of the volcano's upper levels. Nothing. Dante was also puzzled by the strange silence, as was Mitch, Blaze and Slash. They held their guns close, just in case an assassin decided to visit.

"Robotnik? Sir? It's us," Slash yelled.

"Hey, we got a Chaos Emerald!" Blaze lied, hoping to get the doctor's attention wherever he was.

"I'll check the rooms. You four go search the rest of the base," Dante said. Sin nodded and limped in the opposite direction. Mitch and Slash also walked off, and Blaze scanned the area. Dante walked into one of the hallway's many rooms. It was empty, as expected.

"Damn. Where could he be?" he asked himself. He pressed a button on his communicator, searching for Robotnik's signal.

"Come on, sir. Pick up," Dante whispered. Then, his ears twitched. He could barely hear the sound of Robotnik's communicator.

"It sounds like…it's inside of the wall." Dante pressed his ear against the hard, steel covering. Sure enough, the ringing of the doctor's radio could be heard.

"But where?" He traveled alongside the wall, searching for some kind of hidden door or anything.

"I've just scanned the place," Mitch announced, walking in. Dante turned towards him.

"Robotnik designed a secret passage. No one can get in unless he let's them. The only way to open the door is from the inside," The fox explained. Dante then focused all of his strength into one fist, and smashed a hole in the wall. Sure enough, there was a hallway on the other side. He held his hand, easing the pain of his bleeding knuckles. The wall was made of metal after all.

After making the hole larger, constituting some more wounds for his hand, Dante and Mitch walked through the dark corridor, the walls decorated with various paintings of the Robotnik family bloodline. Well, technically Kintobor family, being the good doctor's original name at one point.

"Dante!" Mitch yelled. Up ahead, where the corridor turned another corner, the wall was sloppily painted with red, shining off of the steel surroundings. The two quickly ran ahead. Upon turning the corner, Dante witnessed the lifeless body of their beloved leader. Blood still dripping at an extremely slow rate, and a bullet hole in the chest and head. Although almost invisible behind the doctor's blue glasses, Dante guessed that an expression of fear still made it's home on Ivo's face.

"Mitch, go get the others. Tell them to bring a stretcher."

The five commanders sat in a circle on the floor. It came as a shock to everyone about Robotnik's death. Dante and Sin remained quiet. Blaze wore an expression of both shock and disappointment. Mitch was quietly thinking, and Lt. Slash was facing away from everyone.

"So…Robotnik is dead. Can't say I'm sad to see him go," Blaze admitted. He felt slightly ashamed, as though he had betrayed Robotnik a little.

"He's probably burning in Hell now as we speak. May he rest in peace," Dante said, closing his eyes. A few moments of silence passed. Finally, Sin spoke.

"We've mourned his death long enough. Now is the time to make a decision. We need a new leader. A new lord of the Robotnik Empire." This made them go back into thought. A good leader always needed discipline and leadership skills. But this is the Robotnik Empire. Whoever was chosen would have to be able to live up to Ivo's name, not an easy task.

"Count me out. The main reason I joined this army was to fight with Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Not control the Empire. I may actually resign," Mitch explained. He was aware that whoever wished to leave this army would be killed. That depended on whoever here was elected the new emperor.

"I do not wish to be master either. I'm much more comfortable following orders from a respectable superior," Lt. Slash said.

"Well, I guess I could rule the Empire," Blaze suggested.

"I said I'll take orders from a **respectable **leader," Lt. Slash said. Blaze glared at him, then turned back towards Sin and Dante.

"Well, I think it should be one of you. You're both merciless, and are hell of a lot better commanders than we are." Sin faced the other way.

"Don't choose me. I lead an attack against an old foe once…and all I got for it was this artificial suit I wear," he said. Dante smirked.

"Well, I guess that leaves me. I'd take up the position, but I'm not about to run this whole Empire alone. Which is why I propose this." He looked at Sin, Blaze and Slash.

"I suggest we run the Empire together. As a Confederacy. We share equal power and conquer the planet as one," the Tasmanian devil explained. Sin nodded in agreement, while Blaze gave a look of concern.

"One problem. Sharing power will only make us want more. Soon we'll be quarreling, and eventually we'll end up fighting each other instead of the enemy," the red hedgehog explained.

"I'm afraid there are no other options that could benefit us. We shall form the Empire Confederacy of Equal Powers," Sin announced. He raised his hand up, waiting for Blaze, Dante and Slash. They placed their hands on Sin's, making the new Empire final.

A cold wind nipped at the four commanders as they looked upon Ivo's body. It rested on the altar of Green Hill Zone. This "coffin" was made entirely out of the checkered pattern grass. There was no lid, allowing all to witness the dead body of the tyrant. Sin bowed his head before his former leader.

"Robotnik. You were an excellent leader. You never showed anyone mercy, and we shall do the same. Dante bowed as well.

"Robotnik. You've created some of the best arsenals and machinery I have ever seen in my life. I am honored to have served you. We promise we will not mislead your Empire." Next, Blaze lowered his head.

"Robotnik. You've got some bad ass mechs, my favorite being the Egg Emperor. I instantly get dibs on it, just to let you know. Anyway, I'm not terribly heart-broken over your death, but it is unfortunate. I'll be sure to take special care of your Badniks." Finally, Lt. Slash bowed.

"Robotnik. I haven't known you long enough to actually be as loyal as Sin or Dante, but I will promise this: we will find your assassin and kill him. We will avenge you." They lowered his body into the ground, never to be seen again.

"_May you rest in peace, Dr. Ivo Robotnik._"


	16. Chapter 15: Betrayal

Dante slowly backed the shuttle into the fighter bay of the Anubis. He halted the ship. The emerald was safe. But what use was it to him? He was no scientist. What use was such power if one didn't know how to harness it. No. It was not his alone. It was for the Empire. The empire Robotnik worked so hard to build. The empire that had taken Dante in. The empire that was shaken but will not collapse!

"Sir! We've just received a threat via radio!" his trusty Eggrobo announced. Dante chuckled. Who would dare do such a stupid thing?

"Well? Who is it?" Dante asked.

"It's Mitch, representing the USS…whatever those initials are." Mitch stood silent, until his eye twitched and his hand grew into a fist, causing pain to his previous injuries.

"What does it say?"

"He says our alliance is over, and that he will take control of the planet. He wishes to speak with you right now." Dante nodded and turned on his communicator.

"I am Captain and Commander Dante Sellis of the Robotnik Empire. This planet is nearly ours. We have spent many long months capturing and killing our enemies. Our only major threat left besides the Freedom Fighters was Sonic the Hedgehog. Now you guys come along and screw it up for us. Did you assassinate our leader, Dr. Robotnik as well? Well listen here, you bastards. NO! THIS PLANET IS OURS TO TAKE, AND I'M NOT GOING TO LET SOME SLIME FROM GOD ONLY KNOWS WHERE TAKE OVER WHAT IS RIGHTLY OURS! YOU WILL KNOW THE FULL FURY OF THE ROBOTNIK EMPIRE!" Dante's face was flushed with rage as he finished addressing the hostile race. Suddenly, a hologram of Mitch appeared. Only, even through the projected image, he could tell something was different about this fox. Other than the fact he just destroyed their trust.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Mitch? Just moments ago, you were at Ivo's funeral!" Dante yelled. Then, Mitch began to speak. The traitor's voice no longer was present. In its place was a dark, unfamiliar tone.

"**_You fools do not know who this fox is! He is the Reclaimer. The one who is chosen as the planet's leader. We are the holy guardians of Mobius, and you are the threat! You shall be eliminated!" _**Suddenly, 5 of the other faction's ships appeared out of nowhere and opened fire on the Anubis. Dante quickly began yelling orders to his troops.

"Everyone, retaliate now! Fire at those ships! I want that traitor destroyed!"

Count Sin stood in thought as the medical Badniks prepared to heal his wounds. Who could have wanted Robotnik dead like that? He began ruling out possibilities.

Sonic is too isn't one to brutally assassinate anyone, no matter how cruel. Tails and Knuckles wouldn't either. Amy can't stand the sight of blood, neither can Cream, and Big is too stupid. Besides, Dante's report a while back mentioned him dropping the fat ass into the ocean. That only left two possible candidates…

Shadow and E-123 Omega. That had to be it. Who else to kill Robotnik but his creation and his grandfather's mistake?

"I'm relieved to see you alive, Sin." Sin spun around to face someone he had thought to be dead. He couldn't process it then. This person he had just witnessed dead in his chair, was standing right in front of him.

"Ro…Robotnik! Sir!" It was rare that Sin became surprised, but this was an exception.

"What's the matter Count? You look as if you've seen a ghost." The doctors voice. It was still as, well, real as ever.

"That might as well be the case. How did you survive? All five of us witnessed your dead body in your office."

"No. What you saw was my imposter. I'm afraid Mitch and his armies have turned on us. Their first plan of attack was apparently to assassinate me. Unfortunately for them, I assigned a robotic double in my place," Ivo explained. Sin thought for a minute. Yes, it made perfect sense. What didn't, though, was Mitch's apparent betrayal.

"You have Biolizard's DNA, am I correct?" Robotnik asked. Sin snapped out of it. After all that had happened prior to their attack on the ARK, he forgot all about the Prototype's remains. He retrieved the tube from inside his armor; thankful the DNA was not damaged during his beating on the Super Egg Carrier.

"Here it is."

"Excellent. Return to the Super Egg Carrier and start the cloning. I, meanwhile, shall find out what Blaze and Dante are up to."

"With all due respect, sir, my armor is greatly damaged. If I may repair first…" Sin started. Robotnik nodded and turned towards his laptop.

"Dante, can you hear me? It is Robotnik, what are you doing?"

"Evasive Maneuvers! Gunnery, target closest enemies and keep constant fire! Pilot! Take us to the Super Egg Carrier! If they get their hands on this emerald, who knows what they'll do with it," Dante ordered. The two Eggrobos immediately sprang to work.

"Protectors? Guardians? Ha. They're as greedy and forceful as any of us. How could THIS be our deliverance?" Dante mumbled loudly enough for everyone to hear. 

Outside, the main turrets and guns hummed to life. They turned to face their pursuers, barrels and channels opened wide like mouths, facing down the strange aliens. Suddenly, they blew up, leaving debris where they once stood. In place of the rubble was a familiar face. This face, however, had a new outfit, and looked dark.

"Mitch?" Dante questioned. The fox stared right at the Tasmanian Devil, a piercing gaze his choice.

"It's over. You are now our hostage," Mitch said. Dante did not hesitate to activate the Anubis' engine at full speed. He quickly grabbed on and escaped this new dark Mitch. After climbing into the ship's innards, he felt safe. Little did he know what was to happen next as he entered the new Death Egg's orbit...

"Robotnik, sir. I request immediate entrance into the battle station," he said through the radio. No response.

"…Robotnik? I said I request clearance to enter." He looked over his shoulder to see Mitch's forces heading for him. "Now!" Still no answer. He could hear Badniks in the background, so he knew the other side of the radio was active.

"Robotnik! Open the freaking docking bay already! I said I request…" CLICK! The other end of the communication, Robotnik's end, went off. Dante started to sweat as Mitch approached his ship. He didn't know what Robotnik was doing, but he hoped it was damn worth risking his ship.

"Sir!" Sin yelled. Robotnik had just cut off Dante's request. The doctor then switched frequencies to Mitch. Apparently, they still had some contact.

"Well Mitch, I must say, you've become quite the traitor. Because of you and your friends, we've been more preoccupied with your faction, when we should be conquering Mobius. We will not surrender. I'm in fact making metal forms of you all as we speak, using your DNA. I bet you expected me to surrender, didn't you? Well, that weakling Robotnik is gone. I'm more than he is! I am Eggman!" the doctor laughed, a huge smile on his face. Anger grew deep within Sin, and he felt the wind from his sword on his exposed fur as the weapon halted before Eggman's neck.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say **you **were the imposter!" The Count thrusted his sword at Eggman, but the doctor retaliated. Using strength out of nowhere, Dr. Eggman punched Sin in the gut, right where his injuries hurt the most. The bear fell to the floor, and before his vision completely blanked out, he could see only the doctor's face.

"Sir, we're ready for Count Sin's repairs." The Badniks acknowledged Robotnik's gesture of 'never mind'.

"Looks like your beloved leader has abandoned you, Sellis," Mitch said. Dante stood handcuffed to the wall of his own ship as Mitch piloted it into the Death Egg. This gave him time to think.

He had overheard the transmission from 'Robotnik', but he also heard Sin's voice. Apparently, Robotnik had betrayed them all. Dante knew that this had to be too good to be true. But he also knew the enemy of an enemy was your friend. Oh god. But who was our enemy? The newly arrived Earth fleet, or the false Robotnik? The _Anubis_ was but a single small dropship in the midst of a tempest.

What to do. Defect to the Earth fleet? BAH! Dante hated turncoats. His eyes narrowed at the ships that had arrived. The traitorous Mitch was onboard the ARK. He looked back at the massive ship rising into the black void. He thought of the moustached face that it was made in the image of. But...This was not the Robotnik he knew and had come to trust. This one was simply called Eggman, The good doctor's nickname. The Devil's mind raced for options as his aircraft landed in the Death Egg.

"Hey Dante, what's goin' on?" Blaze asked, walking out of his quarters. He was greeted by two soldiers handcuffing him. He glanced at Dante.

"Anything I should know, Dante?"

"There's a lot to explain…"


	17. Chapter 16: Regrouping

Again, Sin, Dante, Blaze, Slash, and Mitch belong to their respective owners (who probably don't go to Anything else Sonic related is owned by Sega and Sonic Team.

Count Sin's prison cell resembled that of an actual jail. Rusty bars, grimey walls, and occasional rats all gave the captive a feeling of depression and despair. This new Death Egg was vastly superior to it's previous three predecessors. This time alone, however, gave Sin some room for thought...

_Sin was his new name, and would forever be. His father did not like this turn of events, as he intended the child's name to be Ted Jr., named after himself. He could not change this, as the name the psychic gives is that boy's name forever. He still wondered why she seemed frightened by his son._

_One obvious trait was, of course, Sin's apparent antlers. They has started out as two small bumps, and their doctor and collegee, Dr. Monoxide, stated that it was a skin condition that would pass soon. It never did. Sin is always ridiculed for these otherworldly body extensions. Every planet they went, someone would always run away from him. That is, except one girl..._

_"Hi there! What's your name?" she asked him. Sin was taken by surprise by the girl's question. Was...was she blind, perhaps?_

_"...Why do you ask?"_

_"I wanted to see if we could be friends, of course."_

_"So...you aren't frightened?" He asked her. She scratched her head._

_"Because of your antlers? Bah! I'm not about to abandon someone just because of they have stuff growing out of their heads," the girl said. She extended her hand. "My name's Lara. What's yours?" Sin knew this had to be too good to be true. He shook her hand._

_"...My name is Sin," he responded. Lara frowned._

_"Well, that's not a very pleasant name. Why'd your parents name you that?"_

_"They didn't..."_

_"Well, of course not! No parent would name their son that. Well, do you go by any other names?"_

_"...I was going to be named Ted Jr."_

_"Now THAT'S a cute name. Well Ted, you want to hang out?" All this was just too much for Sin at the moment. It's almost as if she was oblivious to the evil inside him..._

Sin was thrown out of his thoughts by the sound of shooting and exploding metal. He watched as his cell door opened.

"What in the-"

"It's me, Dante. Get off your ass and come with me. Blaze should be nearby." The Tasmanian Devil grabbed Sin's arm and dragged him along.

---

"You want some of this!" Blaze yelled. He continued to destroy Badniks with swift slices of his twin swords. His quick manuevers proved too complex for the Eggpawns to retaliate to. In a matter of minutes, the red hedgehog had cleared the area of enemies...for now.

"Having fun?" came the voice of Lt. Slash. The beetle walked up, a gun in each of his four hands.

"Yes, but not as much fun as you're having. You must be going berserk with those. I wish I had four arms sometimes," Blaze admitted.

"Yeah, but we gotta preserve our ammo for Robotnik." Blaze and Slash looked at each other, then broke out laughing.

"Like we even need to DO anything to kill him! Good one, Slash. Anyway, have you found Dante and Sin yet?" The beetle shook his head. "Well, I'm sure they can handle things on their own..."

---

Mitch held an angry expression at the words of Eggman.

"This is NOT what we agreed, Eggman. Me and my forces were looking for freedom, not more imprisonment!"

"I'm terribly sorry Mitch, but you must understand; When you're on MY ship, you follow MY rules, got it?"

"No." The fox pulled out a magnum and aimed it at the Doctor, who simply chuckled.

"Remember what I said before?" Eggman, with unbelievable speed, impaled Mitch's gun arm with a blade and pulled it out. The fox fell to the floor in pain. The blade had poison on it. "Do not try anything funny. I will not hesitate to obliterate you the instant you fire." Mitch groaned and slowly started to crawl away. Eggman sighed and looked back at the monitor that showed Mobius. "It's almost time..."

---

The sheer size of the Death Egg IV confused those who tried to travel within it without so much as a map. Unfortunately, Sin and Dante didn't have a map, so they were forced to traverse the giant battle station on foot.

"None of this makes sense. He never told us about the Death Egg's relaunch, or anything. And why is he trying to get us killed?" Dante pondered.

"Maybe because we're too good? Nah, that's not it. He'd at least use us until he conquered everything..." Sin said.

"We're just as puzzled as you are, guys." Behind them they saw Blaze and Slash.

"...He got you guys too?"

"Of course. He's rounding up all the generals."

"Then we better hurry." The four reunited, they traveled on towards their destination: Eggman's control room.

---

Mitch, his arm now numb and purple due to the poison, gathered up the strength to contact his men via COM link.

"...Men, this is Mitch. Bring all of our forces here. Commence the attack on the Death Egg IV..."

"IWill do, sir/I"


	18. Chapter 17: Metal menace

Nothing in this story is owned by me except the plot and my character Sin.

The USCM forces prepared their onslaught on the Death Egg IV. Even as they arrived, Egg-fighters exited from the battle station's hangars.

"Alright, men. You know what to do. Mitch has instructed us to show no mercy against these guys. We find this thing's weak point, and then blow it the Hell up!" Yells of approval were heard across the COM signals, and the attack began. 4 of their ships appeared out of stealth camouflage and fired blue lasers upon the Death Egg, to no avail. Force fields deflected the attacks away, and the Egg-fighters opened fire as well. USCM easily dodged the attacks and countered with their own barrage of lasers and bullets.

"Don't worry, boys. We'll show Egghead the error of his ways."

---

The group continued to run through the Death Egg corridors. Suddenly, the entire place shook.

"What's going on? More enemy attacks?" Sin questioned. Dante held an angry look on his face, dropped to his knees, and yelled towards the sky.

"No…No…NO! FREAKIN' IMPOSTER! YOU INVADERS! MAY THE GODS DAMN YOU ALL TO THE DEEPEST REALMS OF THE ABYSS!" the Tasmanian Devil screamed to the top of his lungs. Blaze gave him a strange look.

"Uh, Dante? Try Trialodine next time you see a doctor…"

"Don't worry. We're about to kick one's ass!" Dante ran ahead of his comrades, who were forced to catch up with him. They didn't get too far, as they saw a familiar face crawling towards them.

"Mitch?" Indeed, it was the traitorous fox who had gotten them captured. But Dante noticed that the kitsune's eyes were not like before; they were normal now.

"What're you doing here, why'd you betray us, and how come you look like crap?" Lt. Slash asked him. Mitch smirked to himself.

"I guess…I underestimated your leader. I was about to send him on the next trainride to Hell…but it seems he wanted me to go instead." He inspected his arm, which felt like it wasn't even there anymore. "A knife with poison on the tip…compared with the phenomenal powers I possess…I can't even feel my arm anymore…"

"Aw sweet! Can I chop it off real quick, just to see if you feel anything?" Blaze's voice said, drawing strange glares from the rest of his crew. "…What? Not like he's gonna be needing it anyway."

"Sorry Blaze, you'll have to wait," Sin said. The red hedgehog frowned.

"Come on!"

"Dude-"

"Everyone, shut up!" Dante yelled. "Mitch, you're coming with us. Poisoned or not, you'll at least make for a good decoy." He picked the fox up in your arms. "Come on. Just don't try anything funny or I'll put a bullet through your head."

"Compared to slowly suffering away, that's sounding pretty good about now…"

---

"Head towards that hangar, boys! We'll get in there even if we have to pry open the freakin' doors!" More USCM planes bombarded Eggman's forces as they made their way to the Death Egg's entrance. One of their ships actually did make it to the hangar, but crashed into a hidden force field.

"Damn it, sir. We can't penetrate the Death Egg's deflector shields!"

"If Mitch is still in there, he'll have to find a way to get rid of those shields from the inside. Problem is, he cut contact with us after that last attack order…" For now, the battle in space continued on, with neither side really winning.

---

"Look, there he is!" The group charged into the control room and confronted Eggman. "Sorry, SIR, but this new army of yours isn't exactly working out with your employees."

"Hmph." Eggman then dissolved into silver liquid, his form disappearing. He rose up again, this time as…

"…Metal Sonic. He's supposed to be dead," Dante said. Yes, everyone was in a bit of shock.

"But I'm not. I have survived, and I have never felt better. It's only been what, a month or two since my last defeat? Already, I'm more powerful than anyone else on the planet..."

"You've been absorbing data, I presume?"

"Precisely. You warriors surprised me at first. You throw all morals to the wind when you fight. I like that. So much that I have learned all of your techniques. I even took the time to learn your anatomy…" Metal Sonic then produced four extra arms, to match Slash's six. The bottom limbs held two machine guns, the middle arms held two combat swords, and the top appendages wielded a single barbarian sword. "Come at me!"

"Hehe-NO! I'm not going up against THAT!" Slash yelled. Sin and Blaze readied their swords, while Dante walked forward.

"You didn't copy EVERYONE'S data, you know. For example, I bet you didn't know I had THIS!" Out of nowhere, Dante materialized a katana. The blade was blanketed in flames.

"Hm…clever, Sellis. Don't count on it saving your life, however!" Metal charged at Dante, who slashed the ground, sending a huge wall of fire towards the fake Sonic. He swiped the flames aside, to block oncoming sword strikes from Sin and Blaze. "Fools!"

"Take this!" Dante yelled as he quickly seperated the top two arms from Metal Sonic's body, the barbarian sword disappearing.

"Alright, I admit that was a foolish strategy in the first place. But now you've just made me more mobile." He then sprayed the group with waves of bullets, which Slash countered with his own.

"I've got six arms worth of firepower here, baby!" he exclaimed, gunning down Metal Sonic. Although most of the bullets bounced of the shiney blue menace, Lt. Slash managed to knock the guns out of Metal's hands. "Might as well lose those swords too, 'cause there's no way you can block four different swords at once."

"Let's just see…" Metal Sonic said, anger in his voice. Sin was the first to charge, his golden blade colliding with Metal's. Next was Blaze, who's twin swords locked with the metal menace's. Dantewas the last, but he too couldn't get through his opponent's defenses. "Look at that. It seems you-"

"Die!" Mitch yelled as he pulled the trigger on his gun, the bullet going clear through Metal Sonic's head. A moment of silence passed as nothing happened. Metal's body started to spark every which way.

"No…I cannot…I will not die yet!" he yelled as he teleported out of the room. Dante grew ever more angry.

"Damn it, he got away!"

"Yeah, but he can't really go far in the condition he's in. I'll give him 5-10 minutes max," Blaze said. "Now let's go commandeer some air fighters and get the hell outta here."


End file.
